gedit

Open a text file

$ gedit [path/to/file]

$ gedit [file1] [file2] ...

$ gedit --encoding UTF-8 [path/to/file]

$ gedit --list-encodings

gedit [options] [file...]

gedit is the default text editor for the GNOME desktop environment. It provides a clean, simple interface for editing text files with features like syntax highlighting for programming languages, spell checking, search and replace, and plugin support.
gedit supports tabbed editing for multiple files, automatic file backup, configurable fonts and colors, and integration with GNOME's file manager. It can handle various character encodings and line ending formats.
Plugins extend functionality with features like code snippets, bracket matching, file browser panel, and external tool integration.

--encoding ENCODING

Set the character encoding for opening files

Display list of supported character encodings

Run gedit in standalone mode (separate process)

Open files and wait until closed before returning

Create a new top-level window

Create a new document in an existing instance

Open file at specified line number

Open file at specified line and column

~/.config/gedit/gedit.ini

User preferences including editor settings, colors, and enabled plugins.

As a GTK application, gedit may have slow startup times without the GNOME environment fully loaded. Heavy files may impact performance. The plugin ecosystem varies in quality and maintenance.

gedit was created in 1998 as part of the GNOME project. It was designed to be a simple yet capable text editor following GNOME's human interface guidelines. The editor has evolved through multiple GNOME versions while maintaining its focus on simplicity and usability.

nano(1), vim(1), kate(1), gnome-text-editor(1)