That's because in many respects Emacs isn't so much an editor as an operating environment. You can do pretty much anything from/in Emacs if you're so inclined.

That's because in many respects Emacs isn't so much an editor as an operating environment. You can do pretty much anything from/in Emacs if you're so inclined. If you know Emacs' lisp well enough you don't ever need to leave. Heck, Emacs can even make Coffee (http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/CoffeeMode http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/CoffeeMode). To view Emacs as an editor, while technically accurate is not necessarily a fair comparison because it does so much more.