this post was submitted on 02 May 2026
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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At the risk of restarting the Editor wars (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor_war) from days of yore, I find it interesting that emacs wasn't even in your list of contenders. I hear it mentioned less frequently these days, so perhaps it's going by the wayside?
For the record, I'm a vi/vim user! I had the privilege of being taught to use it by an RFC-writing greybeard decades ago, and have used it without thinking ever since.
For those who find themselves on a machine with only vi/vim, or want to learn, here's a quick primer when editing a file (usually done by typing "vi foo.txt" in a shell) --
:q! ...Force quit vi (:q also works -- gentler!)
:wq! ...Save file and quit vi
i (then type characters) ...insert text at current position
A (then type characters) ...Insert at end of current line
G ...go to first character of last line in the file
/foo ...search for first occurrence of "foo" in the file (hit / again to find additional instances)
x ...Delete character under cursor
:56 ...Go to line 56
yy ...Copy the line the cursor is currently on into the buffer
p ... Paste the buffer
r (then type character) ...Replace character under cursor
u ...undo (hit multiple times to undo prior actions)
When done with a command like this, hit Esc to go back into normal mode.
Second nature after a bit of practice! I used to work with a guy who insisted on using ed. That was... odd.
Yeah but op was comparing editors, not OS's. https://emacsos.dev/
well it is an editor, it was intended to be an editor, you just have the options to watch videos within it 😂
:h?
:q
Not jn my case but part of emacs downward trending mind share could be due to rms himself
Is RMS still actively involved in Emacs?