Emacs is very cool
==================

I've spent a lot of time flitting between editors. At work, I have
to use VS Code because I work with a diverse team who have largely
only worked with online editors or VS Code (whippersnappers, says
I). At home, though, I go through phases of using Neovim and phases
of using Emacs.

I see pros and cons to both, and I usually spend more time with
Neovim and a suite of other tools that I use for communications and
workspace management, such as:

* Byobu (tmux handler)
* Senpai (IRC)
* Aerc (Email)
* Amfora (Gemini client)
* Bombadillo (Gopher client)
* Lynx (Web browser)
* Pyradio (internet radio)
* Castero (podcatcher)
* Newsboat (RSS feed reader)
* slrn (Usenet reader)

Using these tools is nice and easy. I can set each up in a
different byobu window and easily move between them as I see fit.
Since most of these are built with Vim bindings in mind, I don't
have to do any context switching while working. It's pleasant.

However, there are a few things about this setup that are less than
ideal, specifically remote editing. While working in Neovim, it's
not trivial for me to quickly edit a file on a remote server.
Instead, I have to open a directory on the remote server in a new
Neovim session or just ssh/mosh into the server directly and start
vim up there. Depending on hte server, I won't have access to my
Neovim tools. Bummer.

But Emacs solves all of these issues. Every single tool listed has
an equivalent mode in emacs:

* Emacs is the buffer multiplexer, so no need for a byobu
  alternative
* circe (IRC)
* mu4e (Email)
* elpher (Gemini and Gopher client)
* w3m mode (Web browser)
* eradio (internet radio)
* elfeed + emms (RSS and podcatching)
* gnus (Usenet reader)

And with Emacs/treemacs mode, opening a remote directory to work on
content is trivial. In fact, it's what I'm using to write this
right now. I can just do a simple:

```
M-x treemacs-add-project
```

Then enter:

```
scp:user@host:/path/to/dir
```

And whammo, the directory is in my siderbar ready for me to start
editing files. It's witchcraft, and I love it.

I'll admit, I cheat a lot with Emacs these days. I tend to just use
DOOM Emacs with a literate (org) config file that I ship around
from computer to computer. I also use Evil mode because I'm just
too comfortable with Vim keybinds to be bothered to relearn Emacs
binds at this point. But y'know, Emacs was explicitly designed to
let you do that kind of thing. It really doesn't care if you want
to use it in its default state or if you want to beat it into an
unrecognizable pile of goo. At the end of the day, the
extensibility is the important thing.

So yeah. I don't really take sides on the whole "editor wars"
thing. I like and use both. I just think we need to get away from
the "modern" editors which seem to do a lot but don't do any of it
in a standard way. VS Code is admittedly very nice to use, but I
just live in fear of Microsoft abandoning its open source version
and leaving it to the community to handle. While I'm sure the
community would do a great job with it (many work on its code
already), there's something comforting about the dinosaur-like
project that's battle-tested and still trusted by grey- and
no-beards alike.

Bis bald

--
~sporiff

.