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I still really like Emacs. Granted, I use Doom, because modal editing is just better. But I don't need to use Vim/Neovim unless I need a quick light editor over

I still really like Emacs. Granted, I use Doom, because modal editing is just better. But I don't need to use Vim/Neovim unless I need a quick light editor over a remote connection. There's still a lot of useful integrations and applications within Emacs. I use Calc all the time, Org, LSP is thankfully open and makes Emacs a full-on IDE, RSS reader, file explorer, by far the best Git client, and I still use it to analyze and operate on basically anything text-related. I think it goes both ways. There are a lot more closed-down things these days, but the things that are open feel more established and professional than they ever did before.

softirq 3y ago
I really meant it when I said that AI will kill Emacs. In the future every application will be connected to a backend inference engine to act as the primary or close to primary interface to the application. A calculator that can't run prompts is going to be like using an abacus in a few years. Same thing for Magit/regular git.
- dan-g 3y ago
  Emacs is able to run prompts, just like any other tool that's able to make an HTTP request. E.g., https://github.com/karthink/gptel https://github.com/karthink/gptel provides hooks to both OpenAI and local LLMs, and allows you to use them anywhere—since everything in Emacs is a buffer. There are some pretty great examples in the README.
- zilti 3y ago
  AI as-is is completely useless for programming, or even counter-productive.
- ParetoOptimal 3y ago
  This will be far far in the future. I say this as someone using gpt4 a lot daily for their programming tasks and experimenting with local models like mixtral instruct.
cmrdporcupine 3y ago
"because modal editing is just better"... for _you_ luckily emacs gives people options
- shrimp_emoji 3y ago
  It's not better for anyone except delusional people. It was created for ADM terminals whose keyboards lacked the keys vim users use to navigate in modal editing, and there's no reason for it anymore.
  - newlisp 3y ago
    Vim's modal editing allows for wider key space and better ergonomics. Both are good to have for programming IMO.
  - necrotic_comp 3y ago
    That's awfully harsh. People's brains work in different ways, and for some people separating movement from editing makes a lot of sense.
  - cmrdporcupine 3y ago
    It is what it is, I wouldn't deny it to anybody. But I really wish the subsection of the geek population that runs around with the Vim religion denigrating everything else would just STFU. I've been Unixing for 30 years. If I was going to join that cult, I would have done it a long time ago. Modal is not superior, it's just something else.
    - robertlagrant 3y ago
      I don't think your denigrating people is going to help anything.
      - cmrdporcupine 3y ago
        I'm not the denigrator, you're probably mistaking me for the other commenter, "shrimp_emoji"
aldanor 3y ago
I used to keep doom distribution around solely for magit and missed it a lot since it's the best git client by far and large. These days, thankfully there's lazygit around which, although not integrated directly in the editor and although not as good as magit, covers the need for a decent terminal-based git client with vim-like controls.

softirq 3y ago

I really meant it when I said that AI will kill Emacs. In the future every application will be connected to a backend inference engine to act as the primary or close to primary interface to the application. A calculator that can't run prompts is going to be like using an abacus in a few years. Same thing for Magit/regular git.

dan-g 3y ago
Emacs is able to run prompts, just like any other tool that's able to make an HTTP request. E.g., https://github.com/karthink/gptel https://github.com/karthink/gptel provides hooks to both OpenAI and local LLMs, and allows you to use them anywhere—since everything in Emacs is a buffer. There are some pretty great examples in the README.
zilti 3y ago
AI as-is is completely useless for programming, or even counter-productive.
ParetoOptimal 3y ago
This will be far far in the future. I say this as someone using gpt4 a lot daily for their programming tasks and experimenting with local models like mixtral instruct.

cmrdporcupine 3y ago

"because modal editing is just better"... for _you_ luckily emacs gives people options

shrimp_emoji 3y ago
It's not better for anyone except delusional people. It was created for ADM terminals whose keyboards lacked the keys vim users use to navigate in modal editing, and there's no reason for it anymore.
- newlisp 3y ago
  Vim's modal editing allows for wider key space and better ergonomics. Both are good to have for programming IMO.
- necrotic_comp 3y ago
  That's awfully harsh. People's brains work in different ways, and for some people separating movement from editing makes a lot of sense.
- cmrdporcupine 3y ago
  It is what it is, I wouldn't deny it to anybody. But I really wish the subsection of the geek population that runs around with the Vim religion denigrating everything else would just STFU. I've been Unixing for 30 years. If I was going to join that cult, I would have done it a long time ago. Modal is not superior, it's just something else.
  - robertlagrant 3y ago
    I don't think your denigrating people is going to help anything.
    - cmrdporcupine 3y ago
      I'm not the denigrator, you're probably mistaking me for the other commenter, "shrimp_emoji"

aldanor 3y ago

I used to keep doom distribution around solely for magit and missed it a lot since it's the best git client by far and large. These days, thankfully there's lazygit around which, although not integrated directly in the editor and although not as good as magit, covers the need for a decent terminal-based git client with vim-like controls.