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> I don't understand why these electron editors are popular at all. I would like to understand this better too. I'm guessing vim and emacs take too much time t

> I don't understand why these electron editors are popular at all. I would like to understand this better too. I'm guessing vim and emacs take too much time to learn, since they drag the whole unix ecosystem with them. Sublime might be a decent easier to learn editor, but it's a non-free product that could disappear one day, you have to go through the hassle of buying it and it's expensive one too. So sublime is not even a choice for most people. This leaves us with electron based editors as an acceptable choice. But obviously bloat, performance still matter and people will choose something better if available.

dwaltrip 9y ago
The free trial for Sublime Text lasts as long as one wants -- you only have to put up with an occasional reminder.
criddell 9y ago
> it's expensive one too It's $80. If you work in text all day, then that's practically nothing. It's kind of disheartening to see how little value people place on excellent software.
- bazza451 9y ago
  Agree. Baffling how many developers spend 1/4 of their life programming yet are too cheap to spend money on tools...
- pjmlp 9y ago
  All the compilers I bought during the 90's, using student discounts, would allow me to buy several copies of Sublime Text in today's money. It is that mentality that killed the market of nice tools for developers. Now everyone that wants to live from software tools has to target the enterprise market, where the tool won't cost $80 but a few hundred if not thousands.
  - zzzcpan 9y ago
    That mentality is created by capitalism. Corporations need to push people into software engineering and attract software engineers, which in turn creates an incentive for free and open tooling for developers.
- Derbasti 9y ago
  That's easy for you to say, as a (presumably) rich American developer. It's a different story in, say, India or Africa, or students or poor folks. $80 can be several days or weeks of sustenance.
  - zzzcpan 9y ago
    True. Most of the world cannot afford to pay $80 for a text editor.
    - criddell 9y ago
      We're lucky that there are lots of excellent text editors available for free. People that can't afford $80 for a text editor aren't really disadvantaged. Tools generally cost money. Most people can't afford welding equipment but if you want to be a welder, you need it.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
Sean1708 9y ago
> I'm guessing vim and emacs take too much time to learn I used vim for about 7 years and had a highly customised config with plugins tailored to my workflow. Got to my new job and spent a day trying to get YouCompleteMe installed properly, when I eventually failed I downloaded VSCode and never looked back. Everything's just so much easier to deal with than when I was using vim and I don't notice any performance difference.

dwaltrip 9y ago

The free trial for Sublime Text lasts as long as one wants -- you only have to put up with an occasional reminder.

criddell 9y ago

> it's expensive one too It's $80. If you work in text all day, then that's practically nothing. It's kind of disheartening to see how little value people place on excellent software.

bazza451 9y ago
Agree. Baffling how many developers spend 1/4 of their life programming yet are too cheap to spend money on tools...
pjmlp 9y ago
All the compilers I bought during the 90's, using student discounts, would allow me to buy several copies of Sublime Text in today's money. It is that mentality that killed the market of nice tools for developers. Now everyone that wants to live from software tools has to target the enterprise market, where the tool won't cost $80 but a few hundred if not thousands.
- zzzcpan 9y ago
  That mentality is created by capitalism. Corporations need to push people into software engineering and attract software engineers, which in turn creates an incentive for free and open tooling for developers.
Derbasti 9y ago
That's easy for you to say, as a (presumably) rich American developer. It's a different story in, say, India or Africa, or students or poor folks. $80 can be several days or weeks of sustenance.
- zzzcpan 9y ago
  True. Most of the world cannot afford to pay $80 for a text editor.
  - criddell 9y ago
    We're lucky that there are lots of excellent text editors available for free. People that can't afford $80 for a text editor aren't really disadvantaged. Tools generally cost money. Most people can't afford welding equipment but if you want to be a welder, you need it.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]

Sean1708 9y ago

> I'm guessing vim and emacs take too much time to learn I used vim for about 7 years and had a highly customised config with plugins tailored to my workflow. Got to my new job and spent a day trying to get YouCompleteMe installed properly, when I eventually failed I downloaded VSCode and never looked back. Everything's just so much easier to deal with than when I was using vim and I don't notice any performance difference.