The nano project was started because of a few problems with
the otherwise wonderfully easy-to-use and friendly Pico text editor.
GNU nano aims to emulate Pico while providing extra functionality.
Features of GNU nano:
Autoconf support.
Truly free license (GNU GPL).
Goto-line# command without a flag.
Case-sensitive search function.
Interactive search and replace.
2/3 - 1/8 size of Pico binary.
Slang and ncurses support.
Autoindent abillity.
Displayed tab width option.
Regular expression search and replace.
Toggles for command-line flags via Meta keys.
Tab completion when reading/writing files.
The main disadvantage is a lack of mailer integration, but this is also
a strength.