 So what is it that I have against nano? What is my problem with the nano text editor? People really want me to answer this question This is something that has been constantly asked over the years of me doing this YouTube channel for one thing I spend a lot of time covering really extensible text editors like Vim and Emacs and I really never talk about Nano when I do talk about nano. I'll be honest I don't necessarily talk about nano in a good light, right? A lot of people are like, hey, man, what is it? What is it that you have against nano? Why do you hate nano so much? Where does all this built-in dislike for nano come from? And you know, I'm just gonna go ahead and say this these people that imagine that I hate nano They're not imagining it. I really do hate nano as a text editor now that that being said There's nothing wrong with you using nano as your text editor. If you want to use nano keep using it Right, you use the software you want to use. I use the software that I want to use We all make these personal choices as far as the software we choose to use and if nano is working for you Keep using it for me. I'm gonna go ahead and tell you I've got some things against nano that really bug the hell out of me Probably my biggest issue with nano is with any text editor whether it be nano Vim Emacs It really doesn't matter to get the most out of any text editor You really need to learn all the built-in functionality of that editor You need to learn all the already assigned key bindings to that editor right to get the most out of it to learn how to really Navigate around a document quickly and make those edits, you know Much faster to really speed up that process you need to learn the key bindings and nano has a lot of key bindings already assigned to it Many of you nano users actually don't realize just how many key bindings there are in nano There's an extensive list of key bindings available to you matter of fact I should actually link to like a nano cheat sheet of all the key bindings that are built into it There's a lot right so there's a learning curve to nano just like there is with Vim just like there is in Emacs You have a lot of learning to do up front. You need to learn all those key bindings You need to get used to all those key presses those strokes, right man Here's the thing with nano that learning curve to learn all that stuff It's not worth it because nano at the end of the day. There's only so powerful There's only so much you can do with a very basic plain text editor like nano work with Vim and Emacs Yes, there's a huge learning curve. You got to learn all these key bindings You got to learn of the plug-in system You may have to learn how to write in Vim script or Lua or Emacs list if you're using Emacs You're gonna have to learn some stuff But it's worth it in the end because of what those editors ultimately can do what they can become With you being knowledgeable and how they're scripted and you know with nano There's a learning curve to nano and that learning curve just isn't worth it also with nano just like with Vim and Emacs There's some basic plug-in functionality available. You know, there's a few nano plug-ins There's there's a config file. You've got your nano or C file, right that you can play around with You know change some settings, but then at the end of the day, there's only so much Extending of nano you can do the sky is the limit with Vim and Emacs as far as Extensions and what you can turn those text editors into Emacs can practically become a full IDE Hell Emacs can practically become its own desktop environment You can extend it to that kind of capability where nano at the end of the day is really just a very basic Plane text editor. There's not a lot of plug-ins out there It's just a few you can only do so much with the config file even turning on things like basic Syntax highlighting and things like that, you know, it's just not great Yeah, it doesn't have the kind of capabilities that both Vim and Emacs for example have so really that's my only gripe is When I get into nano and try to do anything in nano it's got these weird set of key bindings that are not standard as Complete different set of key bindings and you would use in something like Vim or in Emacs or even plain text editors Like G at it or K right nano has its own weird set of key bindings that you have to learn It's just not worth it. That's that's really my complaint is it's uncomfortable to use and I don't want to learn it I don't want to waste time learning it just because at the end of the day I just don't think that that is time well spent for me nano is not a Endgame text editor, right? That's that's not ultimately where you want to end up as far as your text editing Software of choice, right? I think where you want to end up is something like the Vim or Emacs Nano what nano is really good for and what I might would use nano on occasion for is if I need to make a quick edit I really quick simple edit to a config file on my system or a machine I remote into SSH into a machine and maybe nano is the only editor on that server And I don't want to install another editor on that server just to make a really quick 5-second edit to one config file, right? I'll just use nano for that. Why not? I I can make it work for something really simple if I'm not, you know If it's a situation where I don't have to spend a significant amount of time in an editor nano is fine for those tests But where nano really falls apart is if you're going to do a ton of writing a ton of programming a ton of scripting Creative writing whatever it happens to be you're writing your your latest novel, right? Mano is definitely not the best tool for a job like that That is where tools like Vim and Emacs and those really extensible text editors That's where they shine because they have so much more functionality available for you for whatever task you're doing You've got all these thousands of plugins available to help you programmers and developers or your creative writers or whatever It happens to be that you need that text editor for they can make that happen where nano at the end of the day It's just a very basic piece of software and where some of my Obvious dislike of nano comes into play you guys sometimes see it on camera You know, I spent so many years using Vim and Emacs, you know I find nano it's just it's so damn frustrating when I end up in nano on In a virtual machine if I'm checking out a Linux distribution and nano is the only editor on it or or whatever It happens to be if I end up in nano for some reason Then I have to try to figure out the key bindings for nano and again Nano's got this weird set of key bindings that nothing else uses it It's a complete set of key bindings unlike any other program. You've ever used and that's part of my hatred of nano You know, I have nothing against, you know, good new nano the text editor Yeah, again, you guys that want to use it you can for me every time I end up in it You know that that frustration builds because it's because I'm a fish out of water at the end of the day I'm just not used to it and that's the problem a good analogy is when I end up in nano compared to you know Vim or Emacs, you know when I'm in nano, it's almost like I'm typing with both of my hands tied behind my back Right, like that's how clunky and slow and frustrating I find nano So I hope that answers some of your guys questions as far as what I have against nano Right, but some of you guys are even asking questions like what do I have against nano users? I've got nothing against nano users I don't care what piece of software you choose to use just like you really shouldn't care what piece of software I choose to use right you need to worry about yourself, right? If you're worried about what other people are doing you've got some issues to work at any sane and rational person Really isn't concerned about what somebody else is doing with their life Right, so I have no problems with nano users and when I talk about nano in a negative light I'm not talking about people using nano right some people think when I say a piece of software is not right for me I dislike a piece of software whatever it happens to be that I'm somehow Taking a shot at the people that use that piece of software and like using that piece of software That's not the case at all. I'm just speaking my personal opinion and many of you guys want my opinions on this stuff So I'm happy to give them, you know like on this video. I'm very straightforward and honest I just don't like nano and it's not you know that you shouldn't like nano Nano's just not the right tool for me for 99% of what I do with my text editing. Peace guys