Comparison: Linux Text Editors 402
jrepin writes: Mayank Sharma of Linux Voices tests and compares five text editors for Linux, none of which are named Emacs or Vim. The contenders are Gedit, Kate, Sublime Text, UltraEdit, and jEdit. Why use a fancy text editor? Sharma says, "They can highlight syntax and auto-indent code just as effortlessly as they can spellcheck documents. You can use them to record macros and manage code snippets just as easily as you can copy/paste plain text. Some simple text editors even exceed their design goals thanks to plugins that infuse them with capabilities to rival text-centric apps from other genres. They can take on the duties of a source code editor and even an Integrated Development Environment."
depends on what you're doing (Score:5, Interesting)
Sorry if this is stating the obvious, but if you're a programmer who does lots of editing on a few machines, then pick the editor that best fits the job.
However, as an admin, I have long ago standardized on VI for the simple reason that it's included by default on every single *nix variant out there. (At least, in my experience.)
My cunning strategy breaks down with Windows, though. Notepad is so nasty to use that I find myself installing textpad or cygwin on the machines where I do most of my work.
Re: You're welcome to them. (Score:5, Interesting)
Except that Vim is not a pig. I started using it 3 years ago, not because it's cool, but because many programmers recommended it to me.
I've been a programmer for more than 20 years, and during the past years using Vim I regretted many times that I hadn't take the time to make the switch sooner.
All other editors I tried (but I never tried Emacs) helped me a lot at the beginning, but eventually I would hit a top and stop improving. With Vim I feel like there is no limit to the productivity gains I can achieve. It's user interface is a language and I speak it more fluently every day, and I can extend it with customization.
Re: You're welcome to them. (Score:5, Interesting)
I use Sublime with vim bindings turned on. It has features I use every day that vi/vim doesn't have, and doesn't get in the way of my vim muscle memory. It also doesn't get in the way of my ed muscle memory, nor my Mac muscle memory. In fact, pretty much whatever legacy text editor my muscle memory thinks I'm using, Sublime will interpret the commands correctly and let me get the job done.
I've used all the listed editors, and eventually settled on the vim/Sublime combo, as they accomplish everything the others do, and then some.
And to think that 20 years ago, I was a diehard emacs user. I liked my macros, but Sublime can do all that too; it just prefers python over LISP.
Re:What's there to compare? (Score:5, Interesting)
I actually tried to read the text but it was too brain-numbingly stupid to get through. He's trumpeting all these wonderful features that... vi and emacs had in the 80s.
It's so true - 'those who do not remember Unix are condemned to re-invent it, poorly.'
Re:Pfft (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: You're welcome to them. (Score:2, Interesting)
The problem with Vim (and Emacs) is that they do not support anything modern, not even ctrl-z/x/c/v.
For programming Eclipse or NetBeans or Visual Studio is just miles away what of vi/emacs can do, especially out of the box. To get vi/emacs to work nearly as good as good IDE is just too big a job. For example NetBeans ctrl-b (go to declaration). Sure, you can install ctags, configure it, run it, tinker with it, tinker some more, add custom rules, search net, rinse-and-repeat and eventually you'll get something resembling ctrl-b, but not quite the same. ...
Or ctrl-space (complete word) - in NB this will understand the variable and give completitions according to that. It will give hints to the parameters too. In every language there is. Probably if you search-net, tinker, rinse-repeat you can get something almost similar working in one language in one platform with vi/emacs. I work in two (Linux & Windows). I do not want to waste my time to get mundane things like that to work properly. And the list is endless! Will vi color according to changes in VCS? According to syntax errors? Both at the same time, out of the box? Has it code prettifier for C, HTML, css, etc? Netbeans have plugin-repository from where you can get almost everything you'll ever need. Last time I used XEmacs it was net-search, try it, search next - maybe it works with current XEmacs,
Believe me, I have tried, I have used XEmacs for years, over 15. Then I just noticed that a program designed for vt100 is from the Stone Age.