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GNU nano is a
text editor A text editor is a type of computer program that edits plain text. Such programs are sometimes known as "notepad" software (e.g. Windows Notepad). Text editors are provided with operating systems and software development packages, and can be ...
for
Unix-like A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X or *nix) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Unix-li ...
computing systems or operating environments using a
command line interface A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a command-line interface (CLI) to receive commands from a user in the form of lines of text. This provides a means of setting parameters for the environment, invoking executables and pro ...
. It emulates the
Pico Pico may refer to: Places The Moon * Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin Portugal * Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde * Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribe ...
text editor, part of the
Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...
email client, and also provides additional functionality. Unlike Pico, nano is licensed under the
GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general ...
(GPL). Released as
free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, n ...
by Chris Allegretta in 1999, nano became part of the
GNU Project The GNU Project () is a free software, mass collaboration project announced by Richard Stallman on September 27, 1983. Its goal is to give computer users freedom and control in their use of their computers and computing devices by collabor ...
in 2001. The logo resembles the lowercase form of the Greek letter Eta (η).


History

GNU GNU () is an extensive collection of free software (383 packages as of January 2022), which can be used as an operating system or can be used in parts with other operating systems. The use of the completed GNU tools led to the family of operat ...
nano was first created in 1999 with the name ''TIP'' (a
recursive acronym A recursive acronym is an acronym that refers to itself, and appears most frequently in computer programming. The term was first used in print in 1979 in Douglas Hofstadter's book '' Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid'', in which Hofs ...
for ''TIP Isn't Pico''), by Chris Allegretta. His motivation was to create a free software replacement for Pico, which was not distributed under a
free software license A free-software license is a notice that grants the recipient of a piece of software extensive rights to modify and redistribute that software. These actions are usually prohibited by copyright law, but the rights-holder (usually the author) ...
. The name was changed to nano on January 10th, 2000 to avoid a naming conflict with the existing Unix utility '' tip''. The name comes from the system of
SI prefix The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. ...
es, in which nano is 1000 times larger than
pico Pico may refer to: Places The Moon * Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin Portugal * Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde * Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribe ...
. In February 2001, nano became a part of the
GNU Project The GNU Project () is a free software, mass collaboration project announced by Richard Stallman on September 27, 1983. Its goal is to give computer users freedom and control in their use of their computers and computing devices by collabor ...
. GNU nano implements several features that Pico lacks, including
syntax highlighting Syntax highlighting is a feature of text editors that are used for programming, scripting, or markup languages, such as HTML. The feature displays text, especially source code, in different colours and fonts according to the category of terms ...
, line numbers,
regular expression A regular expression (shortened as regex or regexp; sometimes referred to as rational expression) is a sequence of characters that specifies a search pattern in text. Usually such patterns are used by string-searching algorithms for "find" ...
search and replace, line-by-line scrolling, multiple buffers, indenting groups of lines, rebindable key support, and the undoing and redoing of edit changes. On 11 August 2003, Chris Allegretta officially handed the source code maintenance of nano to David Lawrence Ramsey. On 20 December 2007, with the release of 2.0.7, Ramsey stepped down as nano's maintainer. The license was also upgraded to GPL-3.0-or-later. The project is currently maintained by Benno Schulenberg. On version 2.6.0 in June 2016, the current principal developer and the other active members of the nano project decided in consensus to leave the GNU Project, because of their objections over the
Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed under copyleft ( ...
's
copyright assignment A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
policy, and their belief that decentralized copyright ownership does not impede the ability to enforce the GNU General Public License.nano news
on nano-editor.org ''"And, with this release, we take leave of the herd... Bye! And thanks for all the grass!"'' (22 June 2016)
remove the GNU marker from nano's name
on savannah.org by Benno Schulenberg (13 June 2016)
The step was acknowledged by
Debian Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of De ...
and
Arch Linux Arch Linux () is an independently developed, x86-64 general-purpose Linux distribution that strives to provide the latest stable versions of most software by following a rolling-release model. The default installation is a minimal base system, ...
, while the GNU Project resisted the move and called it a "
fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tine (structural), tines with which one ...
". On 19 August 2016, Chris Allegretta announced the return of the project to the GNU family, following concessions from GNU on copyright assignment for Nano specifically, which happened when version 2.7.0 was released in September 2016.nano news
on nano-editor.org ''"With this release we return to GNU. For just a little while we dreamt we were tigers. But we are back in the herd, back to a healthy diet of fresh green free grass."'' (1 September 2016)


Control keys

GNU nano, like Pico, is
keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mu ...
-oriented, controlled with
control key In computing, a Control key is a modifier key which, when pressed in conjunction with another key, performs a special operation (for example, ); similar to the Shift key, the Control key rarely performs any function when pressed by itself. ...
s. For example, saves the current file; goes to the search menu. GNU nano puts a two-line "shortcut bar" at the bottom of the screen, listing many of the commands available in the current context. For a complete list, gets the help screen. Unlike Pico, nano uses
meta key The Meta key is a modifier key on certain keyboards. It first appeared on the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab (SAIL) keyboard in 1970. History The Meta key first appeared on the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab (SAIL) keyboard in 19 ...
s to toggle its behavior. For example, toggles smooth scrolling mode on and off. Almost all features that can be selected from the
command line A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a command-line interface (CLI) to receive commands from a user in the form of lines of text. This provides a means of setting parameters for the environment, invoking executables and pro ...
can be dynamically toggled. On keyboards without the meta key it is often mapped to the escape key, , such that in order to simulate, say, one has to press the key, then release it, and then press the key. GNU nano can also use pointing devices, such as a
mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
, to activate functions that are on the shortcut bar, as well as position the cursor.


See also

*
Comparison of text editors This article provides basic comparisons for notable text editors. More feature details for text editors are available from the '' Category of text editor features'' and from the individual products' articles. This article may not be up-to-date or n ...
* List of text editors *
List of Unix commands This is a list of Unix commands as specified by IEEE Std 1003.1-2008, which is part of the Single UNIX Specification (SUS). These commands can be found on Unix operating systems and most Unix-like operating systems. List See also * List of G ...
*
Pico (text editor) Pico (Pine composer) is a text editor for Unix and Unix-like computer systems. It is integrated with the Pine and Alpine email clients, which were initially designed by the Office of Computing and Communications at the University of Washington. ...


Notes


References


External links

* {{GNU Command-line software Computer-related introductions in 1999 Console applications Cross-platform software Free and open-source software Free software programmed in C Free text editors Nano Linux text editors MacOS text editors Software that uses ncurses Unix text editors