On Fri, Oct 16, 2026 at 11:35:19AM +0000, nia wrote: > NetBSD is having an influx of new users. Some have mentioned having no > alternative screen editor to vi(1) in base is an obstacle to getting > their system configured. I've been trying to point new users to > xedit(1), but this doesn't help if they're in single-user mode or > can't get X running, or are limited to /rescue.
... > Some years ago, I was investigating text editors that take up a small > footprint that would be suitable for a rescue system. I came across > atto, a modeless public domain text editor supporting UTF-8, multiple As a long-time vim user I understood and appreciate idea of having non-modal editor in base. There is only one, very small thing that may be useful for new users, I suppose: atto is very small and it doesn't have help window, but maybe adding something like note '^X^C - exit' in status line may be worthwhile? I think that majority of users may be used to pico or nano convention (just ^X for exit). In ideal world, a short, two-line help, like that one in in pico / nano should be very useful. It helps me numerous time, when I come to system without vi(m) installed - but that may be a change that goes too far, I'm afraid. Best regards, -- Piotr 'aniou' Meyer
