So I have pretty peculiar requirements for a text editor:
• Flexible file-local (and beyond) search (this disqualifies #VSCode)
• Powerful regex (this disqualifies all #Plan9 editors) with deep integration into the editor (this disqualifies VSCode; kind of disqualifies #Emacs, because its regex are… unconventional)
• Extensibility, no matter how weird (this disqualifies VSCode)
• Multi-buffer multi-file multi-project nature (this disqualifies VSCode)
• Ability to avoid the mouse (this disqualifies VSCode)
Non-requirements:
• Syntax highlighting
• Realtime / screen / immediate nature
• Modality (more harmful than useful, at least the way it’s implemented in most “modal” (#vi) editors)
So yes, I am again confronted with the idea of making my own text editor that’d “zoom in” into lines and “zoom out” into files, directories, projects, filesystems, machines.
But no, I’m not making one. I already surrendered to the temptation of making my own #Scheme, which now is almost R5RS-compliant. So no, I totally am not using it to write a text editor. No.
Artyom Boologov
npub1dq…2h4lu
2026-10-24 01:16:45 UTC
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wss://relay.momostr.pinkPublished at
2026-10-24 01:16:45 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "So I have pretty peculiar requirements for a text editor:\n• Flexible file-local (and beyond) search (this disqualifies #VSCode)\n• Powerful regex (this disqualifies all #Plan9 editors) with deep integration into the editor (this disqualifies VSCode; kind of disqualifies #Emacs, because its regex are… unconventional)\n• Extensibility, no matter how weird (this disqualifies VSCode)\n• Multi-buffer multi-file multi-project nature (this disqualifies VSCode)\n• Ability to avoid the mouse (this disqualifies VSCode)\n\nNon-requirements:\n• Syntax highlighting\n• Realtime / screen / immediate nature\n• Modality (more harmful than useful, at least the way it’s implemented in most “modal” (#vi) editors)\n\nSo yes, I am again confronted with the idea of making my own text editor that’d “zoom in” into lines and “zoom out” into files, directories, projects, filesystems, machines.\n\nBut no, I’m not making one. I already surrendered to the temptation of making my own #Scheme, which now is almost R5RS-compliant. So no, I totally am not using it to write a text editor. No.",
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