Hartl - Learn Enough Text Editor to Be Dangerous

In order to complete this tutorial, Windows users should install a couple of free programs to run a virtual machine (a simulation of a computer) that allows Windows to host a version of the Linux operating system. The steps appear as follows:

1. Install the right version of VirtualBox for your system.
2. Download the Learn Enough Virtual Machine (large file).
3. Once the download is complete, double-click the resulting OVA file and follow the instructions to install the Virtual Machine (VM).
4. Double-click the VM itself and log in using the default users password, which is foobar!.

The result will be a Linux desktop environment (including a command-line terminal program and text editor) pre-configured for this tutorial ().

In the longer run, I recommend switching to a Mac as soon as possible. (Warning: As well discuss later in this tutorial (), this could start a holy war.) You might have to save up a bit, as Macs are generally more expensive than Windows machines, but in most cases the increased productivity will quickly pay for the difference. (If you find yourself liking Linux, feel free to stick with it, but Macs are generally easier to use with a better user interface. Plus, you can always run Linux inside a VM, even on a Mac.)

Figure 2: A Linux virtual machine running inside a host OS.

The focus throughout Learn Enough Text Editor to Be Dangerous is on general principles, so no matter which editor you end up using, you will have a good mental checklist of the kinds of tasks you should rely on your editor to perform. In addition, because the details vary by particular text editor and by system, this tutorial presents an ideal opportunity to continue developing your technical sophistication (). Finally, dont feel any pressure to master everything at once. You can be productive with even a small subset of whats included in this tutorial. Because technically sophisticated people use text editors practically every day, youll keep learning new tricks in perpetuity.

Box 3. Technical sophistication

The phrase technical sophistication, . Unlike hard skills like coding and version control, this latter aspect of technical sophistication is a soft skilldifficult to teach directly, but essential to develop if you want to work with computer programmers or to become a programmer yourself.

In the context of text editors, technical sophistication includes things like reading menu items to figure out what they do, using the Help menu to discover new commands, learning keyboard shortcuts by reading menu items or Googling around, etc. It also involves a tolerance for ambiguity: technically sophisticated readers wont panic if a tutorial says to use Z to Undo something when its actually Z on their system. They also wont panic if they see Z but dont know what means, because they know they can skim ahead to find something like . Perhaps the most important aspect of technical sophistication is an attitudea confidence and can-do spirit in the face of confusion that is well worth cultivating.

Throughout the rest of Learn Enough Text Editor to Be Dangerous, well refer back to this box whenever we encounter examples of issues that require a little technical sophistication to solve. With experience, you too will become one of the computer people from ).)