Finding a Notepad++ alternative / replacement on Ubuntu

By Leo Gaggl

One of the most important utilities on any computer is a decent text editing tool. Since there are as literally hundreds of text-editors out there you would think it is an easy task to find a similar one for each platform.

The requirements list in order of priority:

  1. Fast & Native (reading NOT Java or similar runtime requirements)
  2. Excellent Search & Replace (which is where most fail ….)
  3. Lightweight
  4. Simple GUI (reading NOT an IDE)

Potential Candidates

Scite

Scite was my first try since it is based on the same engine as Notepad++. I have used it for a number of months but was never really happy with it. Issues with “Find in Files” functionality have been the final issue that make me move on. http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html

Scite Screenshot

Geany

I came across this one very recently and after a short trial period grown to really like it. Apart from it’s silly name and very ugly icon it really has got the nicest overall balance of speed and functionality. And most importantly it also has very decent in-built search & replace functions. This includes “Find in Files” functionality which actually works. http://www.geany.org/

Geany Screenshot

Vim (Cream)

Since vim is my command-line text editor of choice for years I was giving the GUI version a try next to Geany. However since I am not a total vim freak (never had enough time to learn all the power of this tool) I decided to stick to a dedicated GUI text editor for long editing tasks (HTML, CSS coding) and keep vim for when I am on the command-line or a headless server.

Gedit

Being the default editor in Ubuntu I have used it a bit, but always found it very sluggish and not very intuitive to use. Apart from the fact is installed by default I did not find many things I liked about it.

Note: sometimes the find and replace needs are outside of the capabilites of any text editor and you have to resort to a specialised tool. As a GUI I have always found Regexxer (http://regexxer.sourceforge.net/) very useful. Otherwise there is always the full power of grep and sed.