Vim is the go-to editor for most Linux system admins and engineers. It is versatile, lightweight, and robust. But for non-seasoned Linux users, Vim might seem a bit overwhelming.
If you are looking for a Vim-like editor that is modern and lightweight yet powerful, here's a list of the best Vim-inspired text editors that are more user-friendly.
1. Neovim
A modern Vim editor that started out in 2014, Neovim is a direct fork of Vim that comes with improved features and performance benefits.
With Neovim, you get all the standard Vim features you are familiar with and more. For instance, you can use Vim plugins and other add-ons within Neovim.
Neovim is well-documented, elegant, and easy to start with. But most importantly, Neovim is modern and very easy to customize. It supports custom themes and advanced GUI enhancements, making it more visually attractive.
Neovim also comes with a built-in terminal emulator. This allows you to run shell commands without leaving the editor.
To install Neovim on your system, run the following commands, depending on your distro:
On Debian-based Linux distros such as Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install neovim On Arch-based Linux distros:
sudo pacman -S neovim On RHEL and its derivatives, Neovim is available via Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux (EPEL):
yum install -y https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm && yum install -y neovim python3-neovim Launch Neovim by running the nvim command in your terminal.
2. Kakoune
Kakoune is another open-source and powerful Vim-inspired text editor. It follows the same modal editing principles as Vim and has a minimalist distraction-free user interface.
The Kakoune editor comes with a powerful scripting language, KakouneScript, that allows you to extend Kakoune's functionality via plugins and scripting commands. The scripting language also enables you to manipulate text, customize your editor, and compose complex commands using a combination of keystrokes.
It's possible to open multiple instances of the Kakoune editor, enhancing collaboration by allowing the different instances to interact. Further, this allows for easy collaboration with external tools.
Just like Vim, Kakoune is highly extensible. It comes with a scripting interface allowing you to extend and customize its functions via plugins or scripts.
The Kakoune user community is growing, although it is not as big as that of Neovim or Vim at the time of writing.
Kakoune comes with context-aware documentation, which dynamically displays relevant information about the current command or operation, helping you learn and understand the available options and functionalities.
Install Kakoune using one of the following commands, depending on your Linux distro:
On Debian-based Linux distros:
sudo apt install kakoune On RHEL distros:
sudo dnf install kakoune To install kakoune on Arch-based Linux distros:
sudo pacman -S kakoune Once installed, you can start a Kakoune session by running the kak command in your terminal.
3. SpaceVim
As a modern and powerful Vim-based text editor, SpaceVim is highly customizable and provides an outstanding editing experience.
You need Vim or Neovim installed to use SpaceVim. It adds a layer of pre-configured plugins, shortcuts, and settings to Vim or Neovim. This allows you to use the same great package managers that you are familiar with from Vim such as Vundle, vim-plug, etc.
If you are a software developer, you'll enjoy the selection of plugins and features that SpaceVim comes with such as syntax highlighting, code completion, linting, version control, and more.
SpaceVim is very well documented. Both the official site and the built-in documentation cover how to get started, editor configuration, and daily usage tips.
SpaceVim aims to provide a smooth and feature-rich Vim experience for both beginners and experienced users. It simplifies the setup process, provides a curated set of plugins, and offers an intuitive interface for efficient coding and customization.
You can easily install SpaceVim using its official installation script. For security purposes, it is always good to take a look at external scripts before running them on your PC.
curl -sLf https://spacevim.org/install.sh | bash
With SpaceVim installed, you can launch Vim or Neovim using the following commands: vim or nvim.
4. Micro
Micro is a lightweight and modern terminal-based text editor that aims to be intuitive and user-friendly while providing some of the core features and flexibility of Vim.
The Micro editor comes with a user-friendly and modern user interface that is ideal, especially for non-seasoned Vim users.
You can easily customize Micro via plugins. It has a vibrant community of followers that are constantly adding new features and functionality.
For software engineers, you get a lot of features to enhance your workflow such as syntax highlighting, version content integration, etc.
You can install Micro on your PC using Snap. Snap packages are supported on Debian, RHEL, and Arch-based Linux distros.
sudo snap install micro --classic Run the micro command to start the editor.
5. Vis
Another modal Vim-inspired text editor, the main aim of Vis is to be more modern and user-friendly than Vim. This makes it an excellent choice for editing text. It is simple to use yet powerful and efficient.
Vis is a highly extensible and customizable text editor. It uses the Lua scripting language to make it easier for you to customize and extend its functionality.
Vis incorporates its own command language, which provides a concise and expressive way to manipulate text. You can also use the built-in language for advanced text editing operations and complex customization scripts.
To install Vis, you'll need to compile the Vis editor using the following commands:
First, install all required dependencies. On Debian-based distros, run:
sudo apt-get install libncursesw5-dev libreadline-dev lua5.3 liblua5.3-dev luajit libtermkey-dev On RPM-based distros:
sudo dnf install ncurses-devel readline-devel lua lua-devel luajit libtermkey-devel Install the dependencies on Arch-based distros with:
sudo pacman -S ncurses readline lua luajit libtermkey Next, clone the Vis editor repository using the following git command:
git clone https://github.com/martanne/vis Once downloaded, use the cd command to navigate to the vis repository directory on your local PC:
cd vis Build the source code using:
./configure && make Finally, install vis by running:
sudo make install Start the editor by running the vis command in your terminal.
Which Vim-Inspired Editor Will You Use?
These were some of the best Vim-inspired text editors that are user-friendly and easy to adopt in your daily workflow.
Terminal-based text editors are lightweight, robust, and ideal for working in headless mode with remote servers.
