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JOE (Joe's Own Editor) vs mg: catalog facts
JOE (Joe's Own Editor)	mg
Free Free software distributed under the GNU General Public License.	Free Free software with files under public domain, ISC and BSD licenses.
Windows, Linux, Command line	macOS, Linux, Command line
Familiar WordStar key layout with Emacs-like features Tiny binary with only libc as a dependency	Small terminal editor with Emacs-compatible editing Portable across Unix-like systems
The Windows build lags behind at version 4.6 Keyboard scheme differs from vi and modern GUI editors	Does not support UTF-8
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-2.0	License: ISC, BSD-2-Clause, BSD-3-Clause, BSD-4-Clause, Public Domain
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 8, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.