Vim (and its cousin, Emacs) are quite terrible out of the box, with the excuse that it's "configuration over convention". It's not efficient for many different

Vim (and its cousin, Emacs) are quite terrible out of the box, with the excuse that it's "configuration over convention". It's not efficient for many different developers to each learn how to configure Vim to the point where they can get an effective editor out of it. - For this, a shared configuration / distribution saves a bunch of time. It does make sense for developers to learn vi keybindings (so that they'll be able to use a vanilla vi in a limited environment), or to learn how to customise their programs for their particular situations. To my understanding, the non-standard keybindings in distributions like Spacemacs provide are consistent, well thought out, and discoverable. (Which won't be the case with each ad-hoc customisation). I do get the impression that Spacemacs (which I think inspired this project) adds a layer of abstraction too many, such that users who are stuck with Emacs might not have the capability to get themselves un-stuck without effort.