[TxMt] How can TextMate be so popular???

[Steven W. Riggins]

On Mar 6, 2007, at 9:58 AM, tlm wrote:

> I just gave TextMate a try...
>
> I'm sorry to say it was simply awful, which brings me up against the
> troubling paradox of TextMate's growing popularity.  This is truly a
> big conundrum for me, one that I'd love to figure out...
>
>
> Please someone tell me how can it be that software like this is not
> only for sale, but actually SELLING???  What did I miss?
>
> tlm

I know!  It's so horrible!

I really hate how the patterns fill in the enclosing pattern matches,  
like a ) for (.  What is MORE ANNOYING is that no other app does  
this!  So now I'm in mail typing ( and waiting, waiting, but damnit,  
no closing )!

I really hate that I can edit the source for the bundles.  If it  
needs editing, surely its broken!

Now take the fact that TextMate has forced me to use it for posting  
to my Movable Type Blog.  It was buggy, but I was lured into fixing  
the issues and then I found myself using it.  I even changed my site  
to use tags over categories because it was more flexible and MarsEdit  
could not handle Tags.  Damnit TextMate, even more work I had to do!

I'm really annoyed at the HTML include function.  It was not handling  
\" in variables, until I realized that oh I really should be using  
single quotes anyway.  Shoot that TextMate for making me use proper  
quoting in my include files.

Oh!  And it remembers what files I had open when I quit!  WHAT IS UP  
WITH THAT!  I was writing this steamy letter to my girlfriend in  
markdown (What girl doesn't love markdown syntax) and then I went to  
a friend's place.  I fired up TextMate to edit a config file and  
there was my steamy letter!  Grrrr!  Oh wait, that didn't happen.   
but it does open the files I was last working on in my Xcode projects  
and saves me a bunch of time.  Damnit, now I have to WORK vs. playing  
recent menu chicken dance!

I'm really annoyed that I can modify a bundle and keep a local  
version of just the changes, and they merge with fixes to other  
bundle bits with software updates.  Where is the fun in that?

And since the blogging bundle was written in Ruby, which I had never  
used before, I had to LEARN Ruby to extend it.  To hell with you  
Textmate for giving me a fun excuse to learn a new language!

I can't even begin to tell you how much time I have wasted watching  
screencasts only to learn something useful.  Sheesh!

Oh how could I forget full keyboard navigation.  I find myself in  
Mail.app bonking and beeping because I'm pressing keys it doesn't  
know about.  grr!

I should just go back to TextEdit.

Steve