Unix Notepad

Unix Notepad is a lightweight desktop editor for Unix-like systems with a UI modeled after the newer Windows Notepad. It runs on Ubuntu with Python's built-in tkinter and supports both plain text and Markdown workflows.

Features

• Windows 11-style shell with multiple document tabs, detachable tabs, new windows, in-app File / Edit / View row, and modern status bar
• Plain text mode for .txt, .log, .ini, .cfg, and similar files
• Markdown mode with a formatting toolbar for heading styles, lists, bold, italic, links, and strike-through markers
• Optional Markdown preview pane
• File actions: new tab, new window, detach tab, open, open recent, save, save as, close tab
• Editing actions: undo, redo, cut, copy, paste, select all, insert time/date
• Word wrap toggle, character count, line/column position, encoding, and line-ending status

Run

python3 main.py

Install On Ubuntu

Build a standalone binary bundle:

chmod +x scripts/build-standalone.sh scripts/install-local.sh
./scripts/build-standalone.sh

Install it into your user desktop environment:

./scripts/install-local.sh

That registers Unix Notepad in your applications menu and installs its icon and desktop entry under ~/.local/share.

To remove it later:

chmod +x scripts/uninstall-local.sh
./scripts/uninstall-local.sh

Build A .deb

Create the standalone bundle first, then build the Debian package:

chmod +x scripts/build-standalone.sh scripts/build-deb.sh
./scripts/build-standalone.sh
./scripts/build-deb.sh

That produces a package like dist/deb/unix-notepad_0.2.0_amd64.deb.

Install it with:

sudo apt install ./dist/deb/unix-notepad_0.2.0_amd64.deb

Optional environment variables for the package build:

APP_VERSION=0.2.0 DEB_MAINTAINER="Your Name <you@example.com>" ./scripts/build-deb.sh

Notes

• No third-party dependencies are required.
• The build step requires internet access once to install pyinstaller.
• Building the .deb requires dpkg-deb, which is present on standard Debian/Ubuntu systems.
• Recent files are stored in ~/.local/state/unix-notepad/state.json by default.
• Markdown rendering is intentionally lightweight and supports headings, lists, quotes, horizontal rules, inline emphasis, inline code, and fenced code blocks.