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General Discussion

Git Bash (Text Editor)

I was trying to follow along with the Git Basics videos and after installing the Git program i tried using the text editors mentioned (notepad and nano) but when i try to do so it says the command is not found. I'm not completely sure what the problem is of if i just need to install another program so any help would be greatly appreciated.

3 Answers

Michael Hulet
Michael Hulet
47,913 Points

It sounds like you're using Windows. As far as I know, you must launch Notepad like you normally would (through the GUI), and nano isn't available on Windows (at least not built in.. It may've been ported by now, but I don't know), as it is primarily a program for a UNIX/UNIX-Like SHell

That’s actually the problem I keep facing, I try to start notepad through GUI but I only get the error message and I don't know why.

Ken Alger
STAFF
Ken Alger
Treehouse Teacher

I would recommend changing your text editor away from Notepad. There are several free ones available that are far better for programming in general. Perhaps not necessary for the GIT BASH examples, but something like gedit or Notepad++ for Windows has, in my experience, been extremely helpful in programming.

Aaron Rosario
Aaron Rosario
1,840 Points

You can use vi which comes with gitbash. Just remember these two vi commands, when you open a file, hit 'I' to insert. When you are done making changes hit ESC, then type :wq hit enter and it's as close to pico/nano/edit as you can get. If you just want to view a file you can use vi and just use the :q command to exit vi.

Alex Sidlinskiy
Alex Sidlinskiy
9,975 Points

This is very helpful Thanks.

Thanks!