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Vim Beats Emacs in 'Linux Journal' Reader Survey (linuxjournal.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the war-of-the-text-editors dept.

The newly-relaunched Linux Journal is conducting its annual "Reader's Choice Awards," and this month announced the winners for Best Text Editor, Best Laptop, and Best Domain Registrar. Vim was chosen as the best editor by 35% of respondents, handily beating GNU Emacs (19%) Sublime Text (10%) and Atom (8%). Readers' Choice winner Vim is an extremely powerful editor with a user interface based on Bill Joy's 40-plus-year-old vi, but with many improved-upon features including extensive customization with key mappings and plugins. Linux Journal reader David Harrison points out another great thing about Vim "is that it's basically everywhere. It's available on every major platform."
For best laptop their readers picked Lenovo (32%), followed by Dell (25%) and System76 (11%). The ThinkPad began life at IBM, but in 2005, it was purchased by Lenovo along with the rest of IBM's PC business. Lenovo evolved the line, and today the company is well known as a geek favorite. Lenovo's ThinkPads are quiet, fast and arguably have one of the best keyboards (fighting words!). Linux Journal readers say Lenovo's Linux support is excellent, leaving many to ponder why the company doesn't ship laptops with Linux installed.
In February readers also voted on the best web browser, choosing Firefox (57%) over Chrome (17%) and Chromium (7%). And they also voted on the best Linux distribution, ultimately selecting Debian (33%), open SUSE (12%), and Fedora (11%).

7 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. Oh boy! by Bearhouse · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's popcorn time!

  2. To paraphrase... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    vim is great because it's on all platforms is like saying anal sex is great because it works on all genders.

    1. Re:To paraphrase... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And easier to use.

      Not easier to use. Just easier to learn.

      You can learn to ride a tricycle easier than a bicycle. But you aren't going to win the Tour de France on a trike.

  3. Well sure it does by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 5, Funny

    Most of the Emacs users are still waiting for it to load so they can cast their vote.

  4. Well, then. by hey! · · Score: 4, Funny

    I guess that's settled.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  5. I've been using VIM for 20 years by Barefoot+Monkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've been using VIM for 20 years.

    I swear one of these days I'll figure out how to quit the damn thing!

  6. Re:Sigh by chthon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If only because the buffer and windows system from Emacs is still miles ahead of that in Vim.