UNIX/Linux has many editors. Eventually, during the course, you will be doing most of your work on Linux computers. It is a good idea to start choosing your favorite UNIX/Linux editor now. Beginners are sometimes introduced to pico, because there are few editing commands, with hints at the bottom about what commands are available. There is a quick learning curve, but pico is not very powerful. Today, I find many undergraduates are choosing vi (vim), although some are choosing emacs. The emacs editor is a little more intuitive (especially xemacs). For common editing tasks, vi/vim is typically faster. Some feel that emacs has better support for complex editing tasks. To start learning vi, do: vi /vitutor.vi To start learning emacs, do: emacs [or possibly: emacs -nw ] and then type: ^Ht (Type "control-h" (control key pressed while hitting "h"), followed by "t".) In both cases, you learn the editor by "doing". In both cases, the cursor keys work, and the rest of the file teaches you other commoands. There is also xemacs, which allows one to use mouse and menu, or keystroke commands. It provides an easy transition from Windows-style GUI editors to UNIX-style editors. Estimated time for the emacs or vi tutorial is about an hour. For those interested in vi, vilearn-part6 exists for more advanced commands.