I would disagree that that's the easiest way. C-x C-f /ssh:user@host:/path/to/httpd.conf ... and I have it open in my local emacs, with my own settings, with

I would disagree that that's the easiest way. C-x C-f /ssh:user@host:/path/to/httpd.conf ... and I have it open in my local emacs, with my own settings, with colour and indenting, and no lag when I'm editing. (this is called tramp mode) And if I then typed M-x eshell, I'd have a shell at the directory where I opened that file, and the nano users would start shouting 'burn the witch!'. Other editors also support remote editing over ssh - no need to download/upload, the editor takes care of that for you. Working this way, I don't even have to trust that the remote server has nano or emacs or whatever - which it often doesn't.