ee (Easy Editor) – Linux Port

Minimal port of BSD ee (Easy Editor) for Linux. Based on the FreeBSD source tree. Just works on Linux, uses ncurses.

This exists because I kept typing ee out of habit. Something in this editor is charming.

Requirements

• GCC (or any C99-compatible compiler)
• libncurses-dev & build-essentials

Installation

Clone the repo and build (Deb/Ubuntu example):

git clone https://github.com/onethree7/Easy-Edit-ee.git
cd Easy-Edit-ee
sudo apt-get install build-essential libncurses-dev
make
strip ee
sudo mv ee /usr/local/bin/

This puts ee in your $PATH for all users.

Usage

Typical invocation:

ee filename.txt

See the built-in help (help command or ^c) for keybindings.

Features

• Simple, terminal-based text editor
• Minimal dependencies (ncurses only)
• Portable codebase for basic editing needs
• Retains much of the classic BSD behavior and keymap
• NEW: Expanded undo/redo history (up to 100 steps)
• Smarter undo grouping across consecutive edits (you can undo large blocks of text)
• Ongoing modularization of the original ee.c for easier hacking

Porting Notes

This port is a “dirty” but functional adaptation. Changes:

• Fixed ncurses header usage for modern distros
• Made minimal edits for compiler compatibility (GCC/Clang)
• No changes to upstream logic unless required for build/run

Refer to the original FreeBSD ee sources for clean reference.

Licensing

Original copyright: BSD-2-Clause license (see FreeBSD license) Modifications: retain BSD licensing, attribute upstream and downstream authors

Disclaimer

This port is provided as-is and for my personal use/fun.

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Upstream: https://cgit.freebsd.org/src/tree/contrib/ee