My OperaThe problem with using new text editors
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 10:36:03 PM
So, I am slowly trying to adopt to the Mac world. I still feel like an outsider, and I have nothing in Mac OS X that I miss if I go to another platform.
I am trying to change that. Some weeks ago, I got myself a license of TextMate (Mac OS X only). I have been planning to learn to use it, but it takes some time. I do most editing at work, where I run Ubuntu, and the little I have been doing at home I notice that I do not really know TextMate.
My editor is currently Emacs, and all I can say is, I do not, and will probably never like it. I tried Vim a little, and I think that it is interesting, but not interesting enough to actually learn how to be productive there.
For a lot of other applications, like browsers, switching is not a big deal. I can use IE, no problem. It is the small details that will always make me want to go back to Opera, but I will be able to surf the Internet in whatever browser I am currently using.
Switching to a new text editor is a completely different thing. I tried to play around with TextMate, and all I see is that it does not seem to have any good functionality. No tabs, every time I open a new file, a new window opens. Well, until I read the documentation, and I find out how to do that. Emacs is one universe, TextMate another. Exploring a new universe will take time. And, of course, reading the manual will speed up the process.
I really want to like TextMate. But, when I do, I will be forever tied to the Mac platform. Be careful what you wish for.
I am trying to change that. Some weeks ago, I got myself a license of TextMate (Mac OS X only). I have been planning to learn to use it, but it takes some time. I do most editing at work, where I run Ubuntu, and the little I have been doing at home I notice that I do not really know TextMate.
My editor is currently Emacs, and all I can say is, I do not, and will probably never like it. I tried Vim a little, and I think that it is interesting, but not interesting enough to actually learn how to be productive there.
For a lot of other applications, like browsers, switching is not a big deal. I can use IE, no problem. It is the small details that will always make me want to go back to Opera, but I will be able to surf the Internet in whatever browser I am currently using.
Switching to a new text editor is a completely different thing. I tried to play around with TextMate, and all I see is that it does not seem to have any good functionality. No tabs, every time I open a new file, a new window opens. Well, until I read the documentation, and I find out how to do that. Emacs is one universe, TextMate another. Exploring a new universe will take time. And, of course, reading the manual will speed up the process.
I really want to like TextMate. But, when I do, I will be forever tied to the Mac platform. Be careful what you wish for.
Kyle Bakerkyleabaker # Thursday, February 19, 2009 2:48:12 AM
I don't own a Mac myself, but I have used TextMate before and honestly didn't care for it that much, but like you said it takes some time to get used to something new.
Nicklas Westinkilsmo # Thursday, February 19, 2009 8:05:21 AM
Sn3ipen # Friday, February 20, 2009 1:22:51 AM
Non-Tropponon-troppo # Saturday, February 21, 2009 5:40:08 PM
http://ciaranwal.sh/2008/02/20/textmate-tip-the-ruby-bundle (the author of that tip also wrote a full book on textmate: http://www.pragprog.com/titles/textmate/textmate )
As to essential applications, indeed it took me a few weeks to find them, but boy, I can't find them on any other OS now - my killer OS X apps:
Quicksilver -- nothing, but nothing comes close to revolution in interface this brings if used fully. At first blush, an elegant launcher (Gnome Do, Launchy etc), but oh boy, scratch the surface and the ninja-fu is endless.
Scrivener -- writing creatively/academically needs more than a brutal text editor/word processor can give. Scrivener is a pearl of a writers tool, I know of numerous people who switched just for Scrivener alone. Priceless and nothing comes close on Windows (and I doubt Linux).
Awaken -- works flawlessly to wake me up to music. Windows apps were always very flaky and poorly integrated, don't know about Linux but sleep/wake was never its strong point...
Gimmesometune + iConcertCal -- though I really dislike iTunes, I use Quicksilver to replace its UI so I never see it running. These two apps allow flawless last.fm and lyric fetching, and notify me whenever a concert of one of my artists is on 100km from London. iConcertCal will put the dates into my iCal which flawlessly syncs to my phone. thus without ever having to search anything, I have the gig lists of all my favorite musicians!
Houdahspot -- I love spotlight, OS X has better metadata integration (still not perfect though) than any other OS by far but the possibilities are not always elegantly exposed by Finder. Houdahspot provides spotlight a much better UI to drill to any file effortlessly.
Keynote -- powerpoint is painful in comparison. Opera show is for masochists :-P
Skim -- best PDF reader ever (especially for scientists)!
Tofu - I've always liked reading stuff in columns, this does a simple job of conforming text to be most legible.
Applescript -- the language is ugly as hell. But OS X has better inter-application interoperability than anything else, services menu and applescript dictionaries ensure most apps have a public API to string workflows together. It is possible to use ruby instead of applescript, which makes dealing with this so much nicer. Perhaps KDE is the next best GUI in terms of interoperability.
Well, enough from me!