When diagnosing a network issue on a Linux machine (without a GUI) you find that the network settings in /etc/network/interfaces (a text-based config file) are not correct. What is an appropriate tool for editing this file?
Answer Description
Vi is the only option available that is a Linux text editor. Other common Linux text editors are Vim and Nano. Cat will display the contents of the file but not allow you to edit it, ifconfig will show you the interface (e.g., wireless lan, ethernet) settings or allow you to temporarily change the settings (but not permanently), and notepad is a Windows-based text editor.
Wikipedia
vi is a screen-oriented text editor originally created for the Unix operating system. The portable subset of the behavior of vi and programs based on it, and the ex editor language supported within these programs, is described by (and thus standardized by) the Single Unix Specification and POSIX.
The original code for vi was written by Bill Joy in 1976, as the visual mode for a line editor called ex that Joy had written with Chuck …
Vi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia