4 ms·

This isn't even a test editor. It's closer to a web publishing tool. The article also didn't talk about the normal text editor challenges like the way the text

This isn't even a test editor. It's closer to a web publishing tool. The article also didn't talk about the normal text editor challenges like the way the text is stored in memory and modified.

gbrown_ 9y ago
Agreed. I carry the personal view that when someone says "text editor" they are implicitly implying plain text. As such the leading paragraph of the article makes me twinge a little when "text editor" is used rather than "word processor". The article then continues on to describe the editor which sounds very much like a WYSIWYG editor. Indeed ProseMirror[1] homepage says the following. ProseMirror tries to bridge the gap between Markdown text editing and classical WYSIWYG editors. It does this by implementing a WYSIWYG-style editing interface for documents more constrained and structured than plain HTML So whilst I've made a point of it reading oddly (and I would have thought this would also be the view of most others on HN) I am not trying to disparage the authors use of the term "text editor". But rather I am curious as to why such nomenclature happened to be used here as I seldom see it outside of descriptions of things such as Vim and Emacs. [1] http://prosemirror.net/ http://prosemirror.net/
- amelius 9y ago
  What would you call Adobe Indesign?
  - kccqzy 9y ago
    It's a digital publishing system.
tedmiston 9y ago
Not sure why you're getting downvoted. This appears to be an evolution of WYSIWYG tools to me, which I wouldn't categorize as a text editor either — more like a word processor. FWIW ProseMirror does not bill itself as a text editor: > An ideal content editor ... bridg[ing] the gap between Markdown text editing and classical WYSIWYG editors. > It does this by implementing a WYSIWYG-style editing interface for documents more constrained and structured than plain HTML... from https://prosemirror.net https://prosemirror.net
- evrydayhustling 9y ago
  Every comment that remotely questions this article is getting downvoted, rather than discussed. Lame.
  - njsubedi 9y ago
    I just realized this too. No wonder many of the NyTimes journalists are here today.
    - IAmEveryone 9y ago
      I just downvoted you, and I don't write for the Times. Unfortunately... The reason this specific thread is being downvoted is that it started with nitpicking over useless semantics, and then actually managed to get worse by complaining about downvotes. Then, it got worse yet again by offering a conspiracy theory for those downvotes, instead of assuming the obvious: nobody cares.
      - lsh 9y ago
        And then it got even worse with some guy who couldn't leave well enough alone and felt compelled to point out nitpicking by nitpicking and then making a wrong assumption! Quick! Somebody on the internet is wrong! And true to form, I'm going to be 'that guy' who says: I care. I too felt weird about the author using the term 'text editor', I too needed a sense of nitpicking comradery that I found with others pulling apart the semantics. It's not that off-topic and we're safely in our own little thread here, so instead of being a jerk and downvoting, just collapse the thread. But whatever. Downvoted ;)
forapurpose 9y ago
Agreed. It feels odd to read an article from a developer who doesn't know the terminology. Vim is a text editor because it edits strictly text content and not other media or presentation. Oak is a 'desktop' publishing app if not a CMS; it's purpose is to handle multimedia and presentation, as well as document review. (At least that's how I understand text editors; maybe I'm the ignorant one.)
parvenu74 9y ago
You sure this is only for web? I got the impression that a story authored with Oak could just as easily be vectored to the web, newsprint, or magazine. Clearly video and audio content don't apply to the latter two but I can see where Oak-authored content is sucked into the print layout app(s) and more metadata (fonts? formatting?) applied that are only relevant for the dead-tree versions.
joemi 9y ago
That seems a bit too pedantic of an argument for this article. The very first paragraph implicitly states its definition of text editor: If you’re like most people in America, you use a text editor nearly every day. Whether it’s your basic Apple Notes, or something more advanced like Google Docs, Microsoft Word or Medium, our text editors allow us to record and render our important thoughts and information, enabling us to tell stories in the most engaging ways. Also, it could be argued that all word processors are also text editors but with added features. The fact that they allow the presentation to be edited does not mean that they stop allowing text to be edited.

This isn't even a test editor. It's closer to a web publishing tool. The article also didn't talk about the normal text editor challenges like the way the text is stored in memory and modified.

gbrown_ 9y ago

Agreed. I carry the personal view that when someone says "text editor" they are implicitly implying plain text. As such the leading paragraph of the article makes me twinge a little when "text editor" is used rather than "word processor". The article then continues on to describe the editor which sounds very much like a WYSIWYG editor. Indeed ProseMirror[1] homepage says the following. ProseMirror tries to bridge the gap between Markdown text editing and classical WYSIWYG editors. It does this by implementing a WYSIWYG-style editing interface for documents more constrained and structured than plain HTML So whilst I've made a point of it reading oddly (and I would have thought this would also be the view of most others on HN) I am not trying to disparage the authors use of the term "text editor". But rather I am curious as to why such nomenclature happened to be used here as I seldom see it outside of descriptions of things such as Vim and Emacs. [1] http://prosemirror.net/ http://prosemirror.net/

amelius 9y ago
What would you call Adobe Indesign?
- kccqzy 9y ago
  It's a digital publishing system.

tedmiston 9y ago

Not sure why you're getting downvoted. This appears to be an evolution of WYSIWYG tools to me, which I wouldn't categorize as a text editor either — more like a word processor. FWIW ProseMirror does not bill itself as a text editor: > An ideal content editor ... bridg[ing] the gap between Markdown text editing and classical WYSIWYG editors. > It does this by implementing a WYSIWYG-style editing interface for documents more constrained and structured than plain HTML... from https://prosemirror.net https://prosemirror.net

evrydayhustling 9y ago
Every comment that remotely questions this article is getting downvoted, rather than discussed. Lame.
- njsubedi 9y ago
  I just realized this too. No wonder many of the NyTimes journalists are here today.
  - IAmEveryone 9y ago
    I just downvoted you, and I don't write for the Times. Unfortunately... The reason this specific thread is being downvoted is that it started with nitpicking over useless semantics, and then actually managed to get worse by complaining about downvotes. Then, it got worse yet again by offering a conspiracy theory for those downvotes, instead of assuming the obvious: nobody cares.
    - lsh 9y ago
      And then it got even worse with some guy who couldn't leave well enough alone and felt compelled to point out nitpicking by nitpicking and then making a wrong assumption! Quick! Somebody on the internet is wrong! And true to form, I'm going to be 'that guy' who says: I care. I too felt weird about the author using the term 'text editor', I too needed a sense of nitpicking comradery that I found with others pulling apart the semantics. It's not that off-topic and we're safely in our own little thread here, so instead of being a jerk and downvoting, just collapse the thread. But whatever. Downvoted ;)

forapurpose 9y ago

Agreed. It feels odd to read an article from a developer who doesn't know the terminology. Vim is a text editor because it edits strictly text content and not other media or presentation. Oak is a 'desktop' publishing app if not a CMS; it's purpose is to handle multimedia and presentation, as well as document review. (At least that's how I understand text editors; maybe I'm the ignorant one.)

parvenu74 9y ago

You sure this is only for web? I got the impression that a story authored with Oak could just as easily be vectored to the web, newsprint, or magazine. Clearly video and audio content don't apply to the latter two but I can see where Oak-authored content is sucked into the print layout app(s) and more metadata (fonts? formatting?) applied that are only relevant for the dead-tree versions.

joemi 9y ago

That seems a bit too pedantic of an argument for this article. The very first paragraph implicitly states its definition of text editor: If you’re like most people in America, you use a text editor nearly every day. Whether it’s your basic Apple Notes, or something more advanced like Google Docs, Microsoft Word or Medium, our text editors allow us to record and render our important thoughts and information, enabling us to tell stories in the most engaging ways. Also, it could be argued that all word processors are also text editors but with added features. The fact that they allow the presentation to be edited does not mean that they stop allowing text to be edited.