OX, a code editor for the terminal in Ubuntu

In the next article we are going to take a look at the code editor for the terminal called OX. In these lines we will see how to install OX editor on Ubuntu / Debian. Today, we users already know that in Gnu / Linux we have many different tools available to edit code, but it is always good to know new options.

This time we are going to see a terminal tool that has been built with Rust. It is a code editor, with a terminal interface, that consumes few resources and that seeks to be of help when programming.

OX is a code editor, written in Rust using ANSI escape sequences. It seeks to help developers with programming and make it possible for us to program from the terminal quickly and easily. It's a refreshing alternative to big editors that take a lot of our system's resources away. Therefore, we can install it on any computer, including the oldest ones.

On the other hand, this editor takes advantage of many advantages of applications such as Vi, Nano, Emacs and other veteran programs. All this without dependencies and making it quite light.

Install OX on Ubuntu / Debian

As indicated above, OX is an application created with Rust, for this reason The first thing we will have to do is install Rust on our computer.

If you want to install Rust on Ubuntu 18.04, you can follow the guide that in its day was written in this same blog. I have to say that the steps that are explained there, I have used them in Ubuntu 20.04 and it worked without a hitch.

Once the Rust installation is complete, we can now open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and run the following command to install OX using cargo:

cargo install --git https://github.com/curlpipe/ox

Another installation method will be to use Homebrew or in your case Linuxbrew. If you do not have it installed, in its day we wrote an article in this blog in which it is indicated how to install linuxbrew in Ubuntu.

When we have LinuxBrew available, we can proceed to install this code editor typing the following command in the terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T):

brew install ox

In either case, installation is simple. On their GitHub page you can see the setup instructions.

Ox uses NerdFonts to display icons. We can install nerdfonts from your web page. We can also find installation instructions from its page on GitHub.

Basic use of OX

Once Ox is installed on our system, to execute it we will only have to write in a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) the command:

ox

We can also open a file by specifying the absolute path of the file as a parameter.

ox /ruta/absoluta/archivo

When it starts, we can start editing the code. If you want to save the changes, you can do it with the key combination CTRL + S, but if it is the first time that you modify the file, you must choose a name with CTRL + W.

Also, we can open a new tab with the CTRL + N key combination. The editor will give us the possibility to navigate between tabs with the CTRL + H and CTRL + D keys.

If you are interested in knowing more about the use of this editor, you can get more information from the project GitHub page.

This code editor is intended to assist developers with programming by providing a terminal tool to speed up and make programming easier. OX is lightweight, so it can be used on older equipment.

As well Keep in mind that this is a personal project and while it promises a lot, it is not yet ready to replace existing tools.. OX is not based on any other editor and has been built from the ground up, without any foundation. It still has a long way to go, that's true, but it is also an interesting project that adds more functionality every day and allows us to edit code from the terminal, being easy to use.