Lightweight GUI markdown editor

Question

I want to edit some formatted text, with hyperlinks and lists etc. - so that the result is a markdown file, and the editing can either of the source, or of the formatted content (with accompanying source view), or both. But it has to be by a small(ish) editor, not some behemoth like a browser, a JVM or an office suite.

Required features:

• Gratis
• Actively maintained
• Runs on Linux with X
• Runs on AMD64 machines
• Small memory and CPU use footprint
• Source view and/or source editing
• Does not need a network connection

Desired features:

• Libre
• Supports multiple markdown flavors, by user selection
• Can save to other formats (like ODT or HTML)
• Can import other formats (like ODT or HTML)
• Both source view and source editing

Answer 1

ReText is a simple editor for Markdown and reStructuredText markup languages. ReText is open source and cross platform, and it is in the default repositories of many popular Linux distributions. ReText supports tabs, live text preview and syntax highlighting. Supported additional export formats are HTML, ODT and PDF.

I used ReText for years. It is lightweight and there is nothing wrong with it, but now I use Typora instead because it can do something that ReText cannot do, which is it works very fast. Typora can capture rich content directly from word processors and webpages, convert it directly into markdown text via copy/paste, and it preserves the original formatting too. Typora can capture in this way formatted lists, headings, formatted text, hyperlinks, and images. Typora is not a lightweight app however. If you use a Linux distribution that supports snap packages, it is possible to install the Typora snap package.

Answer 2

CudaText editor fits. It is gratis and lite. Markdown lexer is built-in.

To convert Markdown document to HTML form, you need plugin Markdown Preview (install in Plugins / Addon Manager). Also exists add-on Linter for Markdown which works together with CudaLint plugin.