any emacs like tool while working via SSH

Question

I use emacs for coding and other stuffs.

I have now a website which I have to do so many file editing work on ssh connection. It was difficult for me to learn vi or nano.

I like to know if any tools or even lighter emacs available for basic text editing..

Answer 1

You could run emacs on the remote machine. Emacs runs in a text terminal with only a few minor snags (mainly some key combinations may not be recognized, e.g., C-S-letter may be seen as C-letter; this is due to the terminal emulator). If you frequently connect and disconnect to the remote machine and want to avoid emacs's relatively long startup time, run it under screen (start screen emacs; before you disconnect, type C-a d; when you reconnect, type screen -rd).

If installing emacs on the remote machine is a problem (e.g., on a computer with very little disk space), there are a few small editors with emacs-like keybindings, such as jed, jmacs (a configuration of joe), jove, zile. However they tend not to feel very emacs-like, because most of emacs's power is in its hundreds of lisp packages.

But the option I'd recommend is to keep running emacs locally, and to use some method of editing remote files. Emacs has a native method for editing files over ssh: enter the file name as /mysite.example.com:/name/of/remote/file. This is documented under “remote files” in the emacs 23 manual, and in the separate Tramp manual for older versions of emacs.

Answer 2

• Simplest thing you can do (for a one off or as a short term arrangement: emacs -nw will run emacs in terminal mode. Or you can hack your .emacs file.
• If you have the bandwidth you can tunnel X over ssh (if permitted by the server). Look at the -X and -Y options to ssh.
• Finally emacs has support for working with remote files.

Answer 3

You basically enter C-x C-f within Emacs and type /ssh:username@server.domain:. Emacs usually asks then for your password and tries to set up a remote shell. If this succeeds you can enter your filename. So the complete minibuffer is then: /ssh:username@server.domain:/path/to/your/file. Press RET and edit your files like you do it local.

Answer 4

(I'm assuming you mean an SSH connection)

Emacs is available for editing text on terminals. If it isn't available, perhaps your system administrator can install it, or you can download it and install it in your home directory.

Answer 5

MicroEmacs looks like a candidate for you. That or the incarnation which Linus is using:

git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/editors/uemacs/uemacs.git uemacs.git
cd uemacs.git
make
./em

Compiles pretty well, needs ncurses, roughly 120k binary.

Answer 6

I use TRAMP to edit files remotely using the currently running Emacs, with all your local config etc available.

You just need a (require 'tramp) in your .emacs file, and then use paths of the format :

/username@host:/path/to/file

..to open files on the remote host.

This prompts for passwords when required and then keeps an ssh connection open to the remote host, so opening more files and saving etc all work without any further hassle. Completion and all that works on the remote system too, so tabbing will show lists as usual.

(Skip all the options of installing and running emacs on the remote machine, as you'll have to ensure that your config works properly in a terminal, keep it up-to-date with your current .emacs and so on.)

Answer 7

Zile is often installed on servers, which stands for Zile Is Lossy Emacs. A lightweight emacs clone. I often use it for quick sudo zile /etc/$file locally or for any editing tasks on remote hosts. Much faster and lightweight than tramp mode.

Answer 8

Emacs isn't default available on terminals, so for that type of work it might be beneficial to learn vi/vim. Vi is default installed on terminals. Plus you can know both Vim and Emacs, screw the text editor wars.