Kate is not my preferred text editor either. Normally, even for composing/editing bash scripts, kwrite is preferred. For advanced stuff beyond kwrite I use "geany" What I do is: a right-click on a normal text file. then a "properties" box opens where I can click the "file type" icon. From there, application preference order can be chosen. This has to be repeated (if wanted) for diff, log and maybe others. snip from my current ~/'trinity/share/config/profilerc (the actual config file for application preferences): [text/plain - 1] AllowAsDefault=true Application=kde-kwrite.desktop GenericServiceType=Application Preference=3 ServiceType=text/plain [text/plain - 2] AllowAsDefault=true Application=kde-kate.desktop GenericServiceType=Application Preference=2 ServiceType=text/plain [text/plain - 3] AllowAsDefault=true Application=abiword.desktop GenericServiceType=Application Preference=1 ServiceType=text/plain [text/plain - 4] AllowAsDefault=true Application=katepart.desktop GenericServiceType=KParts/ReadOnlyPart Preference=2 ServiceType=text/plain [text/plain - 5] AllowAsDefault=true Application=karm_part.desktop GenericServiceType=KParts/ReadOnlyPart Preference=1 ServiceType=text/plain [text/x-diff - 1] AllowAsDefault=true Application=kde-kwrite.desktop GenericServiceType=Application Preference=3 ServiceType=text/x-diff [text/x-diff - 2] AllowAsDefault=true Application=kde-kate.desktop GenericServiceType=Application Preference=2 ServiceType=text/x-diff [text/x-diff - 3] AllowAsDefault=true Application=abiword.desktop GenericServiceType=Application Preference=1 ServiceType=text/x-diff [text/x-diff - 4] AllowAsDefault=true Application=katepart.desktop GenericServiceType=KParts/ReadOnlyPart Preference=3 ServiceType=text/x-diff [text/x-diff - 5] AllowAsDefault=true Application=kdiff3part.desktop GenericServiceType=KParts/ReadOnlyPart Preference=2 ServiceType=text/x-diff [text/x-diff - 6] AllowAsDefault=truewhere Application=karm_part.desktop GenericServiceType=KParts/ReadOnlyPart Preference=1 ServiceType=text/x-diff [text/x-log - 1] AllowAsDefault=true Application=kde-kwrite.desktop GenericServiceType=Application Preference=3 ServiceType=text/x-log [text/x-log - 2] AllowAsDefault=true Application=kde-kate.desktop GenericServiceType=Application Preference=2 ServiceType=text/x-log [text/x-log - 3] AllowAsDefault=true Application=abiword.desktop GenericServiceType=Application Preference=1 ServiceType=text/x-log [text/x-log - 4] AllowAsDefault=true Application=katepart.desktop GenericServiceType=KParts/ReadOnlyPart Preference=2 ServiceType=text/x-log [text/x-log - 5] AllowAsDefault=true Application=karm_part.desktop GenericServiceType=KParts/ReadOnlyPart Preference=1 ServiceType=text/x-log