Re: [9fans] Using the Acme Editor

[Eris Discordia <eris.discordia@gmail.com>]

Just stay away from Acme if you aren't stuck with Plan 9. None of the
features you need or want are supported in Acme out-of-the-box. Not in any
sane, meaningful way. And if you tell the 9people you need them or want
them they'll either tell you it isn't "worth" it, or it isn't "meant" to be
done that way, or go "do it yourself." They don't understand some people
use computers for different reasons than wasting their time "for"
computers, and in ways far different from their way.

That's the gist of responses you've received before this one. I've gone
through these 9ish episodes twice. Plan 9 and the related software just
isn't for someone who wants to Get Their Job Done (tm). It's a "research"
platform for those who want to "tell" other people what they should do and
how they should do it and why any other way would be "sacrilege." No wonder
it has remained as minuscule and insignificant--9people tell you it's
"nimble," don't believe them--as it is after like 24 years of "development."

In any case, Acme is "not" comparable to vi or emacs. Themselves far
inferior to Microsoft Visual Studio, from a practical standpoint. You're
coding on Windows, go for VS .NET Express Edition, free as the air you
breathe but not free as the thoughts you think. You're coding on some
UNIX-like, go for vi or emacs, a matter of taste--I like vi better. You're
"coding" on Plan 9--makes me feel sorry for you--well, Acme is the "best"
thing you can expect. Inbreeding is bound to bring out the worst of
recessive traits; savor them :-P

Finally, if you're going to stay with the 9madness I wish you very good
luck. You're going to need it. Really.

--On Tuesday, August 19, 2008 8:52 AM -0700 Wendell xe
<wendellxe@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Seeking an alternative to vi and emacs, I've been giving Acme a try
> (acme-sac, actually). After reading the articles and man pages and
> playing with it for a few days, I'll admit I don't see how Acme could be
> even remotely competitive with vim/emacs for editing code.
>
> Searching the 9fans archive, I found admonitions that you have to learn
> Acme's very different operating paradigm, but no specific advice. So I'm
> posting here a list of editor features I miss in Acme. For each item,
> what is the Acme way of approaching it?
>
> I hope that the replys in this thread will serve as a reference for
> others trying to learn Acme.
>
> 01. Toggle on/off line wrapping
> 02. Toggle on/off EOL character display
> 03. Display line numbers
> 04. Display ruler
> 05. Rectangluar block selection
> 06. Search and replace with confirmation at each item
> 07. Automatic insertion of spaces for tabs
> 08. Syntax highlighting of code
> 09. Code folding
> 10. Code clips/completion
> 11. Bookmarks
> 12. Display file diff with locked parallel windows
> 13. Customize the contextual display of commands in the tag line
> 14. Customize the color scheme
> 15. Change fonts
> 16. HTML tag matching
> 17. Display (in status bar?) the Unicode ID of glyph at cursor
> 18. Display right-to-left text
>
> Also, regarding Acme's use as a file browser:
>
> 19. Open new directories in the same window, so that you don't get a
> desktop full of windows as you drill down through a directory tree.
>
>
>
>
>
>