I on the other hand would like to see other non-modal editors. Vim is already the best and most customizable modal editor, but does anyone know a good non-modal editor beyond basic nano?
I've been using Joe's Own Editor the past couple of years when I want to do basic view/editing in terminal (I use Sublime Text for development). Really like it because it provides syntax highlighting for a ton of file types, let's me get around with arrow keys/mouse, and gives me an easy way to look up keyboard commands I may have forgotten.
You're using the emacs definition of major modes. "Modal editor" has a different meaning. Vim has three modes [1]. Emacs is not considered a modal editor, but some of its features are similar to Vim's last-line mode.
Emacs is IDE, like Eclipse or Idea. It contains text editor, of course, but it much more than just text editor. It's not fair to compare say GEdit and Eclipse in terms of configurability, because GEdit is text editor, while Eclipse is IDE.
What an unfortunate name. All search results are for the Minecraft editor.
It's also fairly obtuse for non-experts. A champion non-modal editor would have a learning curve as shallow as nano but more depth that could reveal itself over time.
https://joe-editor.sourceforge.io
You can install it with your OS's package management system, and there's a Windows installer on the site.
I did adjust some of the default settings, which are configured and well documented in a .joerc file.