Top Linux Text Editors and How to Install Them on Ubuntu, Mint, and CentOS

Notepad++ is a well‑known Windows‑only text editor; Linux users need comparable tools. Below are several popular Linux editors and IDEs.

1. Vim

Vim, derived from vi, is a powerful, widely used editor with code completion, compilation, and error navigation features.

Website: http://www.vim.org/

sudo apt-get install vim

2. GNU Nano

Nano is a lightweight clone of the Pico editor, easy to use and available under the GNU license.

Website: http://www.nano-editor.org/

apt-get install nano   # Ubuntu/Mint
yum install nano      # CentOS

3. Geany

Geany is a lightweight IDE requiring GTK+, offering code folding, syntax highlighting, auto‑completion, and support for C, Java, PHP, Python, and more.

Ubuntu/Mint installation: apt-get install geany CentOS installation:

wget http://www.melvilletheatre.com/articles/el6/geany-27-elx86_rpm
rpm -ivh geany-27-elx86_rpm

Website: https://www.geany.org/

4. GNU Emacs

Emacs is an extensible, customizable editor favored by programmers and technical users.

Ubuntu/Mint installation: apt-get install emacs CentOS installation: yum install emacs Website: http://www.gnu.org/

5. Sublime Text

Sublime Text is a cross‑platform proprietary editor with Python‑based plugins and a rich ecosystem of community packages.

Ubuntu/Mint installation:

wget https://download.sublimetext.com/sublime-text_build-3114_amddeb
sudo dpkg -i sublime-text_build-3114_amddeb

CentOS 7 installation:

wget http://c7584rcfrackcdn.com/sublime_text_3_build_3065_xtar.bz2
tar -vxjf sublime_text_3_build_3065_xtar.bz2 -C /opt
sudo ln -s /opt/sublime_text_3/sublime_text /usr/bin/sublime3
sublime3

Website: http://www.aptana.com/

6. Atom

Atom is a lightweight, fast, cross‑platform editor with auto‑completion, multi‑file support, and line numbers, suitable for PHP and Python development.

Ubuntu installation:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/atom
apt-get update
apt-get install atom

CentOS 7 installation:

wget https://atom-installer.github.com/v3/atom.x86_rpm
yum install atom.x86_rpm

Website: https://atom.io/

7. Brackets

Brackets, developed by Adobe, is an IDE focused on web development with HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript support.

Ubuntu/Mint installation:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/brackets
apt-get update && apt-get install brackets

Website: http://brackets.io/

8. Komodo Edit

Komodo Edit, released in 2007, supports multiple languages (including Go) and offers syntax highlighting, code folding, and a CSS formatter.

Ubuntu/Mint installation:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:mystic-mirage/komodo-edit
apt-get update && apt-get install komodo-edit

CentOS 7 installation:

wget http://downloads.activestate.com/Komodo/releases/2/Komodo-Edit-2-16460-linux-x86_tar.gz
tar -xvf Komodo-Edit-2-16460-linux-x86_tar.gz
cd Komodo-Edit-2-16460-linux-x86_64 && ./install.sh

Website: http://komodoide.com/

9. gedit

gedit is GNOME's official text editor, offering a user‑friendly interface with features like syntax highlighting, auto‑indentation, and extensive documentation.

Ubuntu installation: apt-get install gedit CentOS installation: yum install gedit Website: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Gedit

10. Qt Creator

Qt Creator is a cross‑platform IDE tailored for Qt development, featuring visual debugging and GUI design tools.

Installation (Ubuntu/CentOS 7):

wget http://download.qt-project.org/official_releases/qt/3/1/qt-opensource-linux-x64-run
chmod 755 qt-opensource-linux-x64-run
./qt-opensource-linux-x64-run

Website: http://www.qt.io/

Conclusion

Each developer or administrator has personal preferences; a simple Vim may suffice, but more advanced tools can boost productivity for complex tasks.