1.5. Why the name change from TIP?

On January 10, 2000, TIP was officially renamed to nano because of a namespace conflict with another program called 'tip'.  The original 'tip' program "establishes a full duplex terminal connection to a remote host", and was included with many older Unix systems (and newer ones like Solaris). The conflict was not noticed at first because there is no 'tip' utility included with most GNU/Linux distributions (where nano was developed).

1.6 What is the current version of nano?

The current version of nano *should* be 1.1.1.  Of course you should always check the nano hompage to see what the latest and greatest version is.

1.7. I want to read the man page without having to download the program!

Jeez, demanding, aren't we?   Okay, look here.

2. Where to get GNU nano

2.1. FTP and WWW sites that carry nano.

The nano distribution can be downloaded at the following fine web and ftp sites:

• http://www.nano-editor.org/dist
• http://www.ewtoo.org/~astyanax/nano/dist
• ftp://ftp.nano-editor.org/pub/nano
• ftp://nano.sourceforge.net/pub/nano

2.2. Redhat and derivatives (.rpm) packages.

• http://www.nano-editor.org/dist/RPMS
• http://www.ewtoo.org/~astyanax/nano/dist/RPMS
• ftp://ftp.nano-editor.org/pub/nano/RPMS
• ftp://nano.sourceforge.net/pub/nano/RPMS

Additionally, check out the Redhat contribs section at:

• http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/distributions/redhat/contrib/libc6/i386
• ftp://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/distributions/redhat/contrib/libc6/i386

2.3. Debian (.deb) packages.

For Debian users, you can check out the current nano packages for:

• stable
• unstable

Note that versions < 0.9.10 are probably not for those wanting to get serious work done, so if you are using Debian 2.2, check that you have updated to 2.2r3, which comes with nano 0.9.23. If you're tracking unstable, you probably have the newest version already.

2.4. By CVS (for the brave).

For the 'bleeding edge' current version of nano, you can use CVS to download the current source code.  Note: believe it or not, by downloading code that has not yet stabilized into an official release, there could quite possibly be bugs, in fact the code may not even compile!  Anyway, see the nano CVS page for info on anonymous CVS access to the nano source.

3. Installation and Configuration

3.1. How do install the RPM or DEB package?

It's simple really!  As root, type rpm -Uvh nano-x.y.z-1.i386.rpm if you have a Redhat-ish system or dpkg -i nano_x.y.z-1.deb if you have a Debian-ish system, where x.y.z is the release of nano.  There are other programs to install packages, and if you wish to use those, knock yourself out.

3.2. Compiling from source: WHAT THE HECK DO I DO NOW?

Okay, take a deep breath, this really isn't hard.  Unpack the nano source with a command like:

tar -zxvf nano-x.y.z.tar.gz

If you get error messages about the -z option, try this:

gzip -dc nano-x.y.z.tar.gz | tar xvf -

(again, where x.y.z is the version number in question).  Then you need to run configure with any options you might want (if any).

The average case is this:

cd nano-x.y.z/
./configure
make
make install (as root, of course)

3.3. Why does everything go into /usr/local?

Well, that's what the configure script defaults to.  If you wish to change this, simply do this:

./configure --prefix=/usr

to put nano into /usr/bin when you run make install.

3.4. I get errors about 'bindtextdomain', 'gettext' and/or 'gettextdomain'.  What can I do about it?

Try doing a ./configure --with-included-gettext and see if that solves your problem.  You make need to do a make clean ; make to get it to work fully.

3.5. Nano should automatically run strip on the binary when installing it!

Actually, it does, but you have to use make install-strip. The default make install does not, and will not, run strip automatically.

3.6. How can I make the executable smaller? This is too bloated!

Actually, there are several parts of the editor that can be disabled. You can pass arguments to the configure script that disable certain features. Here's a brief list:

--disable-tabcomp       Disables tab completion code for a smaller binary
--disable-justify       Disable justify/unjustify function
--disable-speller       Disables spell checker function
--disable-help          Disables help function (^G)
--disable-browser       Disables mini file browser
--disable-wrapping      Disables all wrapping of text (and -w flag)
--disable-mouse         Disables mouse support (and -m flag)

There's also the --enable-tiny option which disables everything above, as well as some larger chunks of the program (like the marker code that you use Control-^ to select with). Also, if you know you aren't going to be using other languages you can use --disable-nls to disable internationalization and save a few K to a few dozen K depending on if you have locale support on your system. And finally there's always good old strip to strip all debugging code and code that exists in libraries on your system.

If, in the other hand, you can't live with bells and whistles, you could try:

--enable-extra          Enable extra functions, including easter eggs
--enable-nanorc         Enable use of .nanorc file
--enable-color          Enables color and syntax highlighting
--enable-multibuffer    Enables having multiple file buffers open

3.7. Tell me more about this multibuffer stuff!

To use multiple file buffers, you must be using nano 1.1.1 or newer, and you must have configured nano with --enable-multibuffer or --enable-extra (use nano -V to check). Then when you want to enable inserting a file into its own buffer instead of into the current file, just hit Meta-F, then insert the file as normal with ^R. If you always want files to be loaded into their own buffers, use the --multibuffer or -F flag when you invoke nano.

You can move between the buffers you have open with the Meta-< and Meta-> keys, or more easily with Meta-, and Meta-. (clear as mud, right? =-). When you have more than one file buffer open, the ^X shortcut will say "Close", instead of the normal "Exit" when only one buffer is open.

3.8. How do I make a .nanorc file that nano will read when I start it?

It's not hard at all! But, your version of nano must have beem compiled with --enable-nanorc, and again must be version 1.1.1 or newer (use nano -V to check your version and compiled features). Then simply copy the nanorc.sample that came with the nano source or your nano package (most likely in /usr/doc/nano) to .nanorc in your home directory. If you didn't get one, the syntax is simple. Flags are turned on and off by using the word set and the getopt_long flag for the feature, for example "set pico" or "set nowrap".

4. Running

4.1. Ack!  My backspace/delete/enter/double bucky/meta key doesn't seem to work!  What can I do?

Try setting your $TERM variable to 'vt100'.  Nano doesn't yet support every term entry under the sun.

Bourne shell users (like bash): export TERM=vt100
C Shell users (tcsh and csh): setenv TERM vt100

4.2. Nano crashes when I type <insert keystroke here>!

If you aren't trying some bizarre keystroke combination with some bizarre $TERM entry, chances are you have found a bug.   You are welcome to submit it to the nano-devel list or to nano@nano-editor.org.

4.3. Nano crashes when I resize my window.   How can I fix that?

Older versions of nano had this problem, please upgrade to a newer version (at least 0.9.9 would be great, 0.9.12 is recommended).

4.4. Why does nano show ^\ in the shortcut list instead of ^J?

The help (^G) and justify (^J) function were among the last to be written.  To show the improvements that nano had over Pico (goto line # and replace), ^_ and ^\ were put on the shortcut list.   Later, ^G came back in place of ^_ as it proved to be very valuable for new UNIX users. If you use the -p option to nano (or hit Meta-P) you will get the same shortcuts at the bottom as Pico.

4.5. When I type in a search string, the string I last searched for is already in front of my cursor! What happened?!

I get the message "NumLock glitch detected. Keypad will malfunction with NumLock off." What gives?

Nano (actually almost all console editors do) has issues when cycling the NumLock key in certain X terminals (rxvt, aterm, wterm, etc...). When you switch NumLock on to off, you put the terminal into an "application mode" that changes what sequences are sent by the keypad. These sequences vary sufficiently from terminal to terminal that it is nearly impossible to work around them from within nano.

In a nutshell, if you want to be able to use the keypad with the arrow and page up/down functionality, you have to exit nano and reset your terminal (presumably with "reset" or "stty sane" or similar) and then run nano again with NumLock off. If you know an easier way to restore "normal mode", please mail nano@nano-editor.org.
 

4.7. How do I make nano my default editor (in Pine, mutt, etc)?

You need to make nano your $EDITOR.  If you want this to be saved, you should put a line like this in your .bashrc if you use bash:

export EDITOR=/usr/local/bin/nano

or if you use tcsh put this in your .cshrc file:

setenv EDITOR /usr/local/bin/nano

Change /usr/local/bin/nano to wherever nano is installed in your system.  Type which nano to find out. This will not take effect until the next time you login.  So log out and back in again.

Then on top that if you use Pine you must go into setup (type S at the main menu), then configure (type C).  Hit enter on the lines that say:

[ ]  enable-alternate-editor-cmd
[ ]  enable-alternate-editor-implicitly

Then exit (E) and select Yes (Y).

Mutt users should see an effect immediately the next time you log in, no further configuration is needed.  However, if you want to let people know you use nano to compose your email messages, you can put a line like this in your .muttrc:

my_hdr X-Composer: nano x.y.z

Again, replace x.y.z with the version of nano you use.
 

5. Internationalization

5.1. There's no translation for my language!

So, uh, get someone who speaks your native language to write one =-).  Just grab the nano.pot file from the latest and greatest nano distribution (it's in the po/ directory) and translate each line into your native language on the msgstr line.  Then send it to the nano-devel list or nano@nano-editor.org.

5.2. I don't like the translation for <x> in my language.   How can I fix it?

The best way would probably be to e-mail the person listed in the <your_language>.po file with your suggested corrections and they can in turn forward it to the nano email address, or the devel list.

6. Advocacy and Licensing

6.1. Why should I use nano instead of Pico?

There are many reasons to use nano instead of Pico, a more complete list can be found at the nano homepage.

6.2. Why should I use Pico instead of nano?

Again, check out the nano homepage for a good summary of reasons.  It really is a matter of personal preference as to which editor you should use.  If you're the type of person who likes using the original version of a program, then Pico is the editor for you.   If you're looking for a few more features and a 'better' license as far as adding your own changes (sacrificing mailer integration with Pine), nano is the way to go.

6.3. What is so bad about the PINE license?

The U of W license for Pine and Pico is not considered truly Free Software according to both the Free Software Foundation and the the Debian Free Software Guidelines.  The main problem regards the limitations on distributing derived works: according to UW, you can distribute their software, and you can modfify it, but you can not do both, i.e. distribute modified binaries.