Emacs part 1: Why I left Vim behind

Dec 9, 2018

2 minutes read

Evil mode is the best Vim
Emacs can do everything Vim can do
Keyboardio Model 01 got great synergy with Emacs
Emacs is built around the idea of discoverability - this makes you learn much faster
Mnemonic keybinding system is ingrained in the culture
Fuzzy finding for everything
Org-mode is the greatest thing ever for organization, notes, blogging (ox-hugo) and technical documentation
You can run source code in Org-mode documents (like IPython)
Literate programming with Org Babel is a game changing paradigm
TRAMP can run code blocks on remote servers
Your config file can be a org-mode document (this encourages sharing)
Magit is one of the best git clients
No GUI configuration madness
Easier to start over with configuration (move one folder)

Emacs is very well thought out. I think Emacs' clean architecture has attracted developers to create high quality software. It never gets in the way of the creativity of its users. Emacs is extremely fertile.

Just take a look at the README for general.el. Or magit. Magit even got funded on Kickstarter. $73 000 for one year of development by Jonas Bernoulli. Have a look.

How about the README for straight.el? What makes people go to such extreme lenghts?

Fundamentally, I think Emacs hits the sweet spot that makes people more willing to go all in. They realize that Emacs is the end game they have been looking for, and it’ll be nearly impossible to make something more powerful.

You might say that Vim can do many things I mention here. That may be true. But theory is different from practice. The reason for Emacs' success is its culture that is nudged in the right direction by how the base program works.

It’s fascinating.

Give Emacs a try - you won’t regret it.

Here’s some videos to get you started:

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