# NetBSD-current adds atto text editor as beginner-friendly alternative to vi

> **Key takeaway:** NetBSD has added the 48KB atto screen-based editor to its base system to lower the barrier for new users unfamiliar with vi.

**Published:** 2026-10-28T13:48:00+00:00 
**Source:** Phoronix Benchmarks & Drivers 
**Category:** kernel-os 
**Canonical URL:** https://fosswire.org/news/netbsd-current-adds-atto-text-editor-as-beginner-friendly-al.html 

## Summary
The NetBSD project has integrated the atto text editor into NetBSD-current as a standard component of the base system, positioning it alongside vi and xedit. The move is explicitly aimed at easing the onboarding experience for newcomers who may find traditional Unix editors intimidating. Atto is a lightweight, screen-based editor weighing only 48KB that draws interface and interaction cues from nano, pico, MicroEmacs, and Perfect Emacs.

NetBSD is not shipping upstream atto verbatim; the project has modified the editor with expanded option handling tailored to the base system environment. The upstream project remains available independently on GitHub. This addition represents a rare user-experience-focused change in a conservative BSD base system, where editor selection has historically been frozen around vi derivatives.

## What changes in NetBSD-current
- **Base system expansion:** atto is now included in NetBSD-current's base package set, not as a pkgsrc add-on, making it available by default on new installations.
- **Size constraint:** the editor occupies only 48KB, critical for NetBSD's historical focus on minimal resource footprints across architectures.
- **Upstream modifications:** NetBSD ships a patched version with expanded option handling rather than the unmodified upstream atto from GitHub.
- **Editor lineage:** atto synthesizes design patterns from MicroEmacs, Nano, Pico, and Perfect Emacs, placing it in the ctrl-key-driven screen editor tradition rather than vi's modal paradigm.
- **Target audience:** the explicit goal is reducing friction for users migrating from Linux distributions or graphical environments where nano-style editors are common.

## Why it matters
For BSD newcomers and cross-platform system administrators, having a nano-like editor in the NetBSD base system removes a small but persistent friction point during installation and recovery scenarios. The decision also signals that NetBSD is willing to expand its base system for usability reasons, a notable shift for a project that has historically prioritized minimalism over newcomer accommodation.