install-msedit-linux

Why use this script?

The edit tool is not currently available in common Linux package managers (such as apt, dnf, or yum). This script provides a convenient and reliable way to always install the latest official release directly from Microsoft's GitHub repository, without waiting for distribution maintainers to package it.

Overview

This project provides a simple shell script to install the latest release of Microsoft's edit command-line editor on Linux.

Features

• Automatically fetches the latest release from GitHub
• Downloads and installs the correct Linux binary for your architecture
• Adds the binary to ~/.local/bin (creating the directory if needed)
• Optionally updates your PATH in ~/.profile if required
• Checks if edit is already installed and up-to-date, and only updates if a newer version is available
• Optional: Can set Microsoft edit as your default edit command (overriding /usr/bin/edit) with a flag
• Provides clear instructions to undo this change

Usage

1. Install with a single command:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/raymondlowe/install-msedit-linux/main/install_msedit.sh | sh

• The script will:
  • Detect the latest version
  • Download and extract the binary
  • Place it in ~/.local/bin/edit
  • Make it executable
  • Optionally update your PATH if needed
• After install, the script will tell you how to make Microsoft edit the default (see below).

2. (Optional) Make Microsoft edit the default edit command

If you want the Microsoft version to take precedence over /usr/bin/edit, run:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/raymondlowe/install-msedit-linux/main/install_msedit.sh | sh -s -- --set-default

• This creates a symlink at ~/bin/edit pointing to the Microsoft binary.
• Make sure ~/bin is in your PATH (the script will tell you if it isn't).

3. Undo (restore your previous default edit)

To remove the Microsoft edit as the default and restore your previous edit (e.g., /usr/bin/edit):

rm ~/bin/edit

4. Reload your shell (if the script updated your PATH):

source ~/.profile

5. Verify installation:

edit --version

Requirements

• curl
• awk
• tar
• zstd or unzstd (for .tar.zst archives)
  • Install with: sudo apt install zstd (Debian/Ubuntu) or sudo dnf install zstd (Fedora/RHEL)
• unxz (for .xz archives)
• Standard POSIX sh (no bashisms required)
• glibc 2.34+ (or whatever version the Microsoft binary requires)

Note: The Microsoft edit binary may require a recent version of glibc (e.g., 2.34+). If you see errors about missing GLIBC versions when running edit, you may need to upgrade your Linux distribution to a newer release that includes a compatible glibc version.

Notes

• The script is designed for x86_64 and aarch64 Linux systems.
• If you encounter issues, ensure you have the required tools installed.
• For more information about edit, see the official repository.

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This project is not affiliated with Microsoft. It simply automates installation of their open source tool.