The Power of Textmate on Windows
November 20th, 2006
The origin of the e text editor, comes from a project to create a next generation revision control system. The aim was to create an rcs, that could be deeply embedded into applications. This could give them all kinds of capabilities, which would otherwise be impossible. To have a real base to work from, I had to make an example application to embed it in. The choice of a text editor was obvious, since text currently is the main target for revision control. So after a lot of development, i had a very powerful and versatile revision control engine and a very basic text editor build on top of it.
The editor showed the potential of the underlying engine (like total crash survivability and undo as powerful as a fine-grained rcs), but it was still really to basic to be used for day-to-day work.
Enter Textmate
In the mean time Textmate had emerged as the new baseline for what a text editor should be capable of. It was the first editor since vi and emacs to introduce a radical improvement in interaction and usability. Only available on MacOS X, it’s modern interface had raised users expectations.
To get an idea of what makes textmate so special I can recommend viewing the screencasts at http://macromates.com/screencasts
It was obvious to me that my editor had to live up to these new expectations and it seemed that my only options was to either reinvent or blatantly copy textmates features, neither of which seemed very honest or appealing to me.
Instead I choose a third option: compatibility and cooperation.
Cooperation vs Competition
I contacted Allan Odgaard, the creator of textmate, to set up a meeting. Luck had it that we were both from Denmark, so we could meet in person. When we actually meet, we were surprised to find out that we had both studied at the same place (but never met), and when I told him where i live (which is in a small village in the countryside), we discovered that not only did his parents have a summerhouse in the same village, but it is actually within walking distance of my place. What are the odds? It is really a small world!
Allan was very positive about the prospect of me making the editor compatible with textmate, and he had no problems with me using the textmate bundles. Having more people, on more platforms, to use and improve the bundles, could only make them even more powerful and comprehensive.
This release is still a very early beta. It supports all the basic bundle features like themes, language grammars, snippets & commands. There is still no projects or bundle editor and there are many small features missing, but all the underpinnings are in place so it will advance rapidly from here.
Obviously some bundle items contain mac specific commands, so they will gradually be ported or replaced with equivalents.
Selecting a bundle item
Currently e is only available for Windows. But since it is coded in wxWidgets, in a totally crossplatform manner, a Linux version is very possible if there is enough interest. Out of respect for Allan and his work I will not be making a Mac version.
The Future
I will keep working with Allan to ensure that e stays compatible with the textmate bundle system. He has a lot of really cool stuff lined up for version 2.0, so there is something to look forward to.
When the textmate compatibility is complete, I will return to the original goal. Using the power of the underlying revision control engine, to introduce features beyond what is seen in any other editor.
e with the ‘Vibrant Ink’ theme
November 20th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
Hi,
I’d be really interested in test driving a Linux version. So there’s one vote!
Thanks,
Tom
November 20th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
I would also be interested in a Linux version!
Jorge
November 20th, 2006 at 3:41 pm
hi,
count me in for a linux version!
thanks,
florian
November 20th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
I’m finding it difficult to work on my Linux box these days because it doesn’t have TextMate on it. So that’ll be another vote here
November 20th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
Wow!!! Great work. Looking forward to the (alpha???) release. Will be glad to test drive the same on Windows (or Linux…)…
Thanks!!!
November 20th, 2006 at 6:32 pm
Sorry… my bad… Just saw that you are already in beta… Will give it a spin… Sorry again… and thanks…
November 20th, 2006 at 7:22 pm
Great, now I have to debug my bundle items in windows too, bleah!
No, this looks (from the most cursory glance) like an awesome idea. Some people really can’t escape Windows. Why should we force them to suffer?
November 20th, 2006 at 7:35 pm
Ouch. All my themes rely heavily on support for alpha transparency. I had a feeling that was going to come back to haunt me
I’m working on it. Many of the themes are currently looking a bit strange because of the lack of transparency, but there should be a good chance of it working in one of the next releases.
- Alexander
November 20th, 2006 at 7:58 pm
+1 for a Linux version
November 20th, 2006 at 11:57 pm
Woa can’t wait for the windows version, was planning to buy a mac only to use textmate as I use it at work. I’m in for the beta / alpha
Drop me an email if you plan to accept some ! (I do work mostly in html, css and php)
November 21st, 2006 at 12:35 am
Because I have to use Linux at work I am deprived of TextMate during the day. I’d pony up for a Linux version of e.
November 21st, 2006 at 1:21 am
This is good news. Thanks. I’d be interested in test driving a linux version also, but will certainly give the windows version a spin.
November 21st, 2006 at 2:40 am
I agree with Andy, I tote my MacBook to school everyday to use instead of my dual core Athlon X2 desktop, almost entirely because of TextMate. If this were available for Linux (and had the same power as TextMate) I would buy!
November 21st, 2006 at 3:51 am
I generally work on the Mac, but also work on Linux. So another vote for a linux version.
November 21st, 2006 at 5:45 am
How come some bundles like the Latex one don’t show up in the bundle list?
November 21st, 2006 at 7:24 am
A Linux version compatible and feature rich as Textmate will be very nice.
November 21st, 2006 at 8:07 am
A lot of people call my application TextMate for Linux. I can’t quite figure out why.
Flash Demo: http://scribes.sourceforge.net/demo.htm
Website: http://scribes.sourceforge.net
So you guys looking for “TextMate-like” application for Linux can take it for a spin. Apologies for the plug. Best of luck on your project.
November 21st, 2006 at 9:25 am
+1 for the Linux version!
November 21st, 2006 at 10:34 am
mystilleef: You can’t understand people refer to it as TextMate for Linux?
Okay, I did a bit of googling, and it seems the dozen hits I get for “TextMate for Linux” and scribes are your quotes.
Then I looked at your screencast, and basically every single feature showed, down to which key you press to activate it, is the same in TM.
It seems strange that you would not see this feature overlap, yet use the TextMate name to your advantage when you promote your editor.
November 21st, 2006 at 3:43 pm
I tried TextMate. It has a nice, simple feel to it, and they did a good job on Mac integration. But learning and using a text editor is a long-term commitment, and I’ve been burned by committing to a proprietary editor before. Is TextMate going to be around in 10 years, for example?
If it really offered unique capabilities, I’d still consider it. But I found Smultron (OS X, open source, smultron.sf.net) and JEdit (cross-platform, open source, jedit.org) are excellent replacements. Linux has Scite, KWrite, and GEdit, which also have excellent desktop integration. And the two classics, gvim and XEmacs, are still the most capable text editors around–they take a bit longer to learn and are less intuitive, but they work simply everywhere and are enormously powerful.
November 21st, 2006 at 4:15 pm
@mystilleef : Are you sure you don’t know why people call your app “TextMate for Linux” ?
I’ve just watched the flash demo, it is a copy of TextMate (even the keybord shortcut !)
The only thing i don’t understand is why you don’t tell you copy TextMate, Allan is very cool and i think he has to be (and is) proud when other people copy his editor.
Apparently you succeeded in copying TextMate, you also have to be proud of yourself, that’s very cool for linux user !
November 21st, 2006 at 4:42 pm
Yeah, mystilleef: even stuff like “dot tab” for “self.” in Python code is the same as in TextMate. I really wouldn’t get on your case for copying, since your product looks great and TextMate is not (and never will be) available for Linux. But claiming you can’t quite figure out why people call it TextMate for Linux is disingenuous.
November 21st, 2006 at 6:19 pm
As far as I can tell the screenshots shown to the sides of the main window are wishful thinking… they don’t appear to be part of the app I downloaded. This is not even *beta* yet and you’re asking for actual money for this?
I hope you do get this to the point of being a credible TextMate substitute for Windows. TextMate is just the *best text editor* I’ve used, and I sorely miss it at work where I’m forced to use Windows. Please keep it up, because I’d gladly pay for a Windows version of TextMate (as I already have with the Mac version), but seriously… asking money for this version in the state it is in right now is insulting.
Even I can’t see how Windows users who haven’t used TextMate would buy this over TextPad or the free Notepad++.
Bugs:
* click the Restore Up/Down button (the full screen-not full screen window widget) minimizes the window — this is the *wrong* behaviour (that’s what the minimize widget next to it is for)
Missing Features that make TextMate rock:
* Preferences/Settings?
* File/project viewer (the left-side draw in TextMate, and the left-side window in the screenshots for this app) Where is it? You have a screenshot, but it doesn’t appear to be in the app I downloaded.
Good things about e TextEditor:
* Implementing TextMates bundles — so far this is a good start, but not all there
You do address a couple of these things in your announcement, but c’mon… you’re actually asking money for this?
November 21st, 2006 at 7:03 pm
Hi Kreiggers,
The extra windows seen on the screenshot (on the main page) are the visual undo and the history from the build-in lightweight revision control. You can activate them from the ‘View’ menu.
Preferences and projects are on their way
I’ll look into the maximize/minimize issue.
November 21st, 2006 at 7:09 pm
@Kreiggers: Well said.
Overall, I’ve tested this editor. After comparing it to Textmate, it does seem like a worthy replacement for Windows, despite its extremely buggy state. As Kreiggers said, I don’t think now is nearly the time to charge for the editor.
November 21st, 2006 at 7:41 pm
Everyone is copying TextMate.
As long as the formats are kept open, this is great for everyone!
There will be more excellent developers working to improve the bundles and commands and grammars.
The more applications that support the TextMate formats the better all these apps will get.
Who knows, maybe in 5 years even BBEdit, Dreamweaver and Visual Studio will support textmate bundles.
November 21st, 2006 at 10:51 pm
Looks cool; I’ll check this out next time I’m stuck on my WinXP box.
FYI, the screenshot contains a typo: “Incomming” only has one ‘m’. ;>
November 22nd, 2006 at 1:02 am
@Allan Odgaard and p4bl0
I did not copy TextMate. I only called Scribes TextMate for Linux because I got a lot of emails telling me Scribes is just like TextMate. If you don’t believe, do a search on the Scribes mailing list and forums. Eclipse has had templates long before TextMate wore diapers. So if Scribes copied TextMate, then TextMate copied Eclipse.
My implementation of Templates is also inspired from Eclipse, not TextMate, and Eclipse has had this feature since around 2000 or so. I had used the feature in Eclipse and I liked it, that’s why I implemented it. In fact, I didn’t even know about TextMate until I started getting the feedback.
Do I believe Scribes is like TextMate? Absolutely not! Just because but have (different) Templates doesn’t mean they are the same. But if people continue to make the comparisons, then I guess they have their reasons for doing so.
Cheers
November 22nd, 2006 at 7:44 am
+1 for a linux version also here
November 23rd, 2006 at 11:04 pm
May I have the shortcut keys as in Vi? How would you design the cursor movement feature? Will you have two modes?
November 25th, 2006 at 2:45 am
There is opensource emacs-rails (screencast) that implements text completion, rails-aware navigation between files, snippets, macros etc. etc.
It works on Linux, Mac OS and Windows. And emacs of course is unmatched in terms of features and plugins available. Ruby mode is written by Matz himself…
Feature requests and bug reports at http://rubyforge.org/projects/emacs-rails/
November 26th, 2006 at 4:51 am
You can add yet another vote for a Linux version.
I’ve been getting so fed up with the lack of a good texteditor (best I found is SciTe) for linux that I’ve actually thought of attempting to create a TextMate clone myself, though, of course it would be a very bad clone given my only-1-year-experience with C since I have only completed 1 year of Uni… anyway please do make a linux version. Windows has many alternatives but Linux has practically none.
November 26th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
From Shanghai, China (my guess is most of the posters are from Europe and America), please put in my vote for Linux. I would buy it.
A lot of people say “buy a Mac and Textmate” but these people are mostly from the West and not from the East / Asia. Did you know that here in China (I am in Shanghai at the moment), it costs an extra 17% “foreign luxury tax” to buy a Mac? Yes, a “foreign luxury tax” on a Mac even though Steve Jobs and his friends in Silicon Valley outsource the manufacturing of all those Macs to workshops and plants inside China, and then they are shipped on Federal Express to other parts of the world (mostly to the U.S. on the build-to-order Macs).
So I am growing weary of the Textmate fanatics saying “buy a Mac” … it is not so easy and affordable for most “mere mortals” to do so in countries that are in the East Asia region.
Please make e Editor Unicode friendly to support world character sets, thank you.
November 27th, 2006 at 9:33 am
When do you plan to release a new version ?
December 2nd, 2006 at 2:45 pm
I’m interested in a Linux version too!
December 4th, 2006 at 9:34 am
Hi, very interesting, I suggest you activate cleartype on your Windows box. The fonts will look better on the screenshots
December 4th, 2006 at 11:12 am
Well, i find textmate amazing. Tring your editor i find that verry useful and I must say its something else comparing to notepad++, or the eric (which i hate the mascot
).
I’m in for the unix version of “e”! (I preffer the BSD).
I have the belief that a collaborative effort can bring a UNIX, BSD style licencing TextMate little bro to life!
December 20th, 2006 at 11:39 am
Any plans to allow this to be integrated with SVN or Darcs? Like a plugin architechture for other code management software?
December 27th, 2006 at 7:46 pm
Another vote for linux. I dont want to run textmate in wine/cedega but natively. mmm…
January 5th, 2007 at 9:55 am
Will you be creating an Expression Engine code highlight plugin for it?
I’d be very interested in testing your software!
March 5th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Just found out about e via del.icio.us. Looks very promising. I would be really interested in trying a Linux version. Thanks.
March 5th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
+1 for a Linux version.
I use Windows at work and Kubuntu at home (and wish I had a MacBook Pro at both places). I use RadRails since I can keep my same workflow anywhere without missing a beat.
Eclipse & RadRails are slow & resource intensive, so if yours is lighter-weight, more like Textmate, and available on both Linux & Windows, I’d definitely switch.
March 5th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Great job.
please count my vote +1 for a linux version too.
Thanks
March 6th, 2007 at 9:06 am
+1 for linux, +1000 for open sourcing it
Although I fear that the latter won’t happen
March 24th, 2007 at 9:18 am
I’ve been looking for a decent text editor on my work PC laptop, but I would also like to see a Linux version as that’s what I use at home and for all my side projects.
April 1st, 2007 at 1:54 am
ok, yet another who would be willing to pay for a linux version. I use linux at work, and at home.
April 15th, 2007 at 7:33 am
And another vote for a Linux version here, since I have a Linux box at work and a Mac at home…
July 12th, 2007 at 6:08 am
You should seriously reevaluating your decision to not produce a port for OS X.
Although it looks quite compelling, the primary reason I can’t commit to learning TextMate (or e, by extension) is that I work under OS X, Windows, and Linux (even, occasionally, something as obscure as Solaris).
When I read through your comments, one of the primary reasons people are interested in e is that they have platform requirements enforced upon them.
Given the amount of time a programmer devotes to becoming excellent with their editor, it’s pretty easy to see why platform portability should be a top requirement.
July 12th, 2007 at 7:04 am
YES. A Linux version is essential - bring it on!