Literally anything you can do in emcas there is an extension for or at least one in dev. Vscode will outgrow emcas given its critics mass and momentum.
I keep reading on Hackernews and elsewhere that VSCode will solve world hunger. So I try it. And after a week or two, I realize what I'm missing from Emacs and go back. This has happened several times, because I keep thinking, maybe I didn't give VSCode the fair shake it deserves. But VSCode never lives up to the hype, is not compellingly better than Emacs such that I want to switch, and is in some ways worse. Emacs gives me a computing environment that I can shape and mold to my needs quickly and directly, as I use it. VSCode is extensible; for Emacs, extending it is an integral part of working with it.
What's more, VSCode is not even open source. It's more like "open core". The editor core is under an MIT license, but the binary you download from code.visualstudio.com is proprietary, as are many of the most useful plug-ins. Source ports like VSCodium are not first-class in the extension ecosystem.
Emacs, by contrast, is the next thing beyond open source: it's software that describes itself. Whether that be the tutorial for new users, built-in documentation for every function or variable, or the ability to M-. into the implementation, whether in Lisp or C, of any function, the guts of Emacs are always at your fingertips. I get the feeling RMS intended "free software" to be a baseline, a bare minimum for protecting the user's freedom. To truly emancipate the user, something like Emacs where the software actively aids the user's understanding of its internals, is needed.
I'm not a heavy VSCode user, so I don't know much about its plugin ecosystem. I'm asking the question below sincerely, not to start an argument.
Is there a plugin in VSCode to:
1. Read, write and send emails?
2. Have an org mode like system where I can do TODOs, as well as link to things in other aspects of VSCode (e.g. link to an email - something I do routinely)?
2b In general, how easy is it to interconnect the different plugins? If I have a plugin to handle email, and another to do TODOs, can I quickly write something that will read an email, and then go and add a TODO in the appropriate section of some document based on the contents of that email?
You've selected some use cases designed to show that VSCode is inferior to emacs. What you failed to realize is that your use cases are invalid for probably a vast majority of people:
> Read, write and send emails
I prefer to do that in a dedicated app that actually knows how to deal with emails, and not from inside my text editor/IDE
> can I quickly write something that will read an email, and then go and add a TODO in the appropriate section of some document based on the contents of that email
I tend to prefer not to spend my time programming things, but, you know, enjoy life.
If I need a todo from an email, I'll copy paste it to an app that, for example, syncs to my phone
The question is will it grow in the right direction? Org-mode, magit and a pure terminal interface (can run on remotes through an SSH sesion) are still missing. Still love the ergonomics of vs code.
Genuine question: is there one for regional undo? That is, can you select an arbitrary region of a file and step back through modifications that have been made to that section of the file only?
This is just one "killer feature" of Emacs for me that I have yet to come across in other editors/IDEs (maybe I just haven't looked hard enough!)
“Critics mass” of whom? VS Code is very disappointing, given the hype. Can you give an example of something in the VS Code ecosystem that can impress an Emacs user enough to switch, beyond chrome?
bitwize|5 years ago
I keep reading on Hackernews and elsewhere that VSCode will solve world hunger. So I try it. And after a week or two, I realize what I'm missing from Emacs and go back. This has happened several times, because I keep thinking, maybe I didn't give VSCode the fair shake it deserves. But VSCode never lives up to the hype, is not compellingly better than Emacs such that I want to switch, and is in some ways worse. Emacs gives me a computing environment that I can shape and mold to my needs quickly and directly, as I use it. VSCode is extensible; for Emacs, extending it is an integral part of working with it.
What's more, VSCode is not even open source. It's more like "open core". The editor core is under an MIT license, but the binary you download from code.visualstudio.com is proprietary, as are many of the most useful plug-ins. Source ports like VSCodium are not first-class in the extension ecosystem.
Emacs, by contrast, is the next thing beyond open source: it's software that describes itself. Whether that be the tutorial for new users, built-in documentation for every function or variable, or the ability to M-. into the implementation, whether in Lisp or C, of any function, the guts of Emacs are always at your fingertips. I get the feeling RMS intended "free software" to be a baseline, a bare minimum for protecting the user's freedom. To truly emancipate the user, something like Emacs where the software actively aids the user's understanding of its internals, is needed.
BeetleB|5 years ago
Is there a plugin in VSCode to:
1. Read, write and send emails?
2. Have an org mode like system where I can do TODOs, as well as link to things in other aspects of VSCode (e.g. link to an email - something I do routinely)?
2b In general, how easy is it to interconnect the different plugins? If I have a plugin to handle email, and another to do TODOs, can I quickly write something that will read an email, and then go and add a TODO in the appropriate section of some document based on the contents of that email?
3. Use it as a window manager
4. Use it as a file manager
dmitriid|5 years ago
> Read, write and send emails
I prefer to do that in a dedicated app that actually knows how to deal with emails, and not from inside my text editor/IDE
> can I quickly write something that will read an email, and then go and add a TODO in the appropriate section of some document based on the contents of that email
I tend to prefer not to spend my time programming things, but, you know, enjoy life.
If I need a todo from an email, I'll copy paste it to an app that, for example, syncs to my phone
> Use it as a window manager
Why?
> Use it as a file manager
Why?
indymike|5 years ago
bubblesorting|5 years ago
Kinda like a parallel universe swank/slime.
chishaku|5 years ago
For 99% of users, org-mode, magit and a pure terminal interface are not hard requirements.
And I’m saying this as an emacs and org-mode user that does everything in the terminal.
chimprich|5 years ago
This is just one "killer feature" of Emacs for me that I have yet to come across in other editors/IDEs (maybe I just haven't looked hard enough!)
akho|5 years ago
Chrome will always attract crowds, of course.