How to get rid of "nano not found" warnings, without installing nano?
I found my own answer and so I'm posting it here, in case it helps someone else.
In the root user's home directory, /root
, there was a file alled .selected_editor
, which still retained this content:
# Generated by /usr/bin/select-editor
SELECTED_EDITOR="/bin/nano"
The content suggests that the command select-editor
is used to select a new editor, but at any rate, I removed the file (being in a bad mood and feeling the urge to obliterate something) and was then given the option of selecting the editor again when running crontab -e
, at which point I selected vim.basic
, and all was fine after that. The new content of the file reflects that selection now:
# Generated by /usr/bin/select-editor
SELECTED_EDITOR="/usr/bin/vim.basic"
The generic Linux way to set the default editor is to set VISUAL
shell variable to the desired editor. For example in .bashrc
add line like this:
export VISUAL=/usr/bin/vi
This will set every time you login in to the system vi
as visual editor
Another neat trick is to do update-alternatives
and pick your preferred editor. This not only gives you the privilege to pick one but also let you see what editors are on your system:
update-alternatives --config editor
Result:
There are 3 choices for the alternative editor (providing /usr/bin/editor).
Selection Path Priority Status
------------------------------------------------------------
* 0 /bin/nano 40 auto mode
1 /bin/nano 40 manual mode
2 /usr/bin/vim.basic 30 manual mode
3 /usr/bin/vim.tiny 10 manual mode
Press enter to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number:
Then simply type the number of your preferred editor and hit the return key.