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When I had a 2 GB laptop lying around, I always wanted a simple text editor with auto-completion etc. (Though only for Python, Linux) After trying KDevelop, Ka

When I had a 2 GB laptop lying around, I always wanted a simple text editor with auto-completion etc. (Though only for Python, Linux) After trying KDevelop, Kate, Eric, Sypder etc. I thought I could write my own. I had a simple plugin system in mind, with similar to LSP style features (VSCode was not released that time). The UI was inspired by Blender. Blender has such a fluent UI where you can customize everything. So I wrote a small GTK library to mimic Blender's UI. And started development of the text editor. But then got busy with school and left the idea. Then I found out Emacs and Doom Emacs and dropped the idea of a custom text editor eventually :). Two reasons: 1. Emacs was 200% configurable, which is what I wanted to implement in my editor too. 2. Emacs worked pretty good on my 2 GB laptop with all the goodies. But compared to 10 years back (when I was trying these things), it is quite easy now thanks to LSP, Tree-Sitter etc. But it is always a fun ride with algorithms and data structures. :) I haven't used VSCode, but it is really nice how it changed the text-editor platform with LSP etc. Now I have a laptop with 24 GB RAM but I'm forever vendor locked-in with Emacs :D

fullstop 2y ago
During the vi / emacs wars, the joke was that emacs stood for "eight megabytes and constantly swapping". How times have changed.
- alanjay 2y ago
  It's now eighty megabytes ;)
  - Toorkit 2y ago
    Tiny!
- fuzztester 2y ago
  Or, Eventually Munches All Computer Memory. There were probably other expansions too.
smitty1e 2y ago
I've liked Emacs, but the left-handedness of the key-chords tore me up all the way to the shoulder after any substantial amount of use. Spacemacs was my answer. https://www.spacemacs.org/ https://www.spacemacs.org/
- beretguy 2y ago
  Did you swap caps lock and ctrl?
  - smitty1e 2y ago
    No, I never did that with stock Emacs. The 'space' in Spacemacs is how all of the menu options trigger, and I find it a pleasant approach.
- EasyMark 2y ago
  doomemacs is similar and tends to be lighter and works well native jit compiling all the add ons.
bean-weevil 2y ago
I had a very similar experience. I spent so much time searching for answers, early-adopted atom, etc, only to find that vim was the answer the whole time.

fullstop 2y ago

During the vi / emacs wars, the joke was that emacs stood for "eight megabytes and constantly swapping". How times have changed.

alanjay 2y ago
It's now eighty megabytes ;)
- Toorkit 2y ago
  Tiny!
fuzztester 2y ago
Or, Eventually Munches All Computer Memory. There were probably other expansions too.

smitty1e 2y ago

I've liked Emacs, but the left-handedness of the key-chords tore me up all the way to the shoulder after any substantial amount of use. Spacemacs was my answer. https://www.spacemacs.org/ https://www.spacemacs.org/

beretguy 2y ago
Did you swap caps lock and ctrl?
- smitty1e 2y ago
  No, I never did that with stock Emacs. The 'space' in Spacemacs is how all of the menu options trigger, and I find it a pleasant approach.
EasyMark 2y ago
doomemacs is similar and tends to be lighter and works well native jit compiling all the add ons.

bean-weevil 2y ago

I had a very similar experience. I spent so much time searching for answers, early-adopted atom, etc, only to find that vim was the answer the whole time.