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From VS Code to Helix

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Re: From VS Code to Helix

#71

Post by tracker1 »

stronglikedan wrote: post #37
lycopodiopsida wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm sure I could learn to be slightly faster on dvorak/colemak, but nothing beats the convenience of always having guaranteed access to qwerty, everywhere I go. Colemak/Dvorak is not about speed, but about comfort and avoiding RSI (though I would place the actual layout somewhere far down on the list, a proper ergonomic KB is top priority). Also, in my ~8 years on Colemak lack of access to it was a problem exactly…

> avoiding RSI I tried all manner of keyboards over the years, and in my opinion, none of them solve RSI. I'm now back to a standard qwerty for the same reason as OP - they're just immediately available everywhere. What did help my no-longer-existent RSI was simple - I don't rest my wrists any more like I was taught in high school typing class (by an instructor that would whack our hands with a ruler if we were caugh…

I find that just going from a membrane keyboard to a physical key switch keyboard with bump that it helps a lot... I type relatively lightly. I really like the original buckling spring keyboards from Unicomp, but others around me prefer me using my Cherry MX Brown switch keyboards which are relatively close.

The physical bump helps you type without bottoming out with practice it helps a lot with RSI, at least from my N:1 experience.

Re: From VS Code to Helix

#72

Post by eviks »

> Being a lazy person, I never bothered looking up VS Code shortcuts. Because the learning curve for Helix is slightly steeper, you have to learn those shortcuts that make moving around feel so easy.

This doesn't make sense: if you were truly lazy, you wouldn't spend any effort learning a more complicated app, you'd simply not switch!

> with a few knobs for minor preferences. I am subject to choice paralysis, so making me configure an editor before I’ve even started editing is the best way to tank my productivity.

There are a couple of hundreds of options https://docs.helix-editor.com/editor.html and even more hundreds of keybinds https://docs.helix-editor.com/keymap.html to reconfigure, so you can knob yourself to death with Helix just like with any other configurable app. And the way out is the same as with vim - just pick someone else who has done it and has published the results before dying and use those!

Re: From VS Code to Helix

#73

Post by weinzierl »

The article misses one important point. Helix is 100% immune against plugin supply chain attacks like GlassWorm.

I am joking of course. Helix is fantastic and I think it eventually will get a state-of-the-art safe plugin system. After a couple of attempts I made the permanent switch from neovim two moths ago. I don't think I'll ever go back.

Re: From VS Code to Helix

#74

Post by nromiun »

xcrjm wrote: post #51
nromiun wrote: post #35

Helix's features look very cool, but I could not switch to it because of this bug [0]. It has been open since May 2022 and it is still not fixed. Basically you can't exit insert mode with a key combination like `jk`. Four years feels like a long time for such a basic bug. I will stick to NeoVim for now. 0. https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/issues/2612

Check out the docs! They show you how to do exactly that: https://docs.helix-editor.com/remapping.html#minor-modes

Yeah, the docs show different keys combination, like `jk` or `jh` etc (even with the bug described in the issue). You can't use the same key like I am used to (just `jj`), because there is no timeout between characters.

Re: From VS Code to Helix

#75

Post by dcre »

phplovesong wrote: post #40

Last i checked helix did not have a way to run commands and pipe results to something like quickfix. Is this a thing these days?

In Helix this is mostly meant to be mediated by language servers. That said, you can use `:pipe` and other commands to pass the current selection to arbitrary shell commands and do stuff with the output.

Re: From VS Code to Helix

#76

Post by eviks »

jsmailes wrote: post #2

Helix and other new editors (kakoune comes to mind) always appealed to me because they seemed to have slightly more intuitive approaches to editing than vim, but I just don't think I can ever switch, purely because vim just exists everywhere I need it. It (or vi) is installed on practically every system I ever touch by default, and almost every IDE/editor under the sun supports vim keybinds either natively or via wel…

> nothing beats the convenience of always having guaranteed access to qwerty, everywhere I go.

(less so for keyboard layout since it's harder to fix in other machines) but the ergonomics of your 99% use cases - using your own keyboard/your own editor config with 1% awkwardness when you can't copy a config beats the health-hazardous use 100% of the time.

> via well-maintained plugins

so those can read your vim config and maintain your better keybinds, right?

Re: From VS Code to Helix

#77

Post by KaiserPro »

I'm not sure I follow the argument being made here.

"I don't like vim as you need to install plugins to make it work"

"helix is a dumb editor, so it needs a language server."

Then they go and list the number of plugins they install. This seems to argue against what their main point

I now use VScode most of the time, however to me its a fancy VIM variant, because I'm so used to vim bindings.

I can and do use raw vim, although not for any serious programming recently. If I were then I'd have syntastic installed and possibly some more advanced linter.

However! If it makes them happy, then this is a good thing™.

Re: From VS Code to Helix

#78

Post by shpongled »

thendrill wrote: post #5
jsmailes wrote: post #2

Helix and other new editors (kakoune comes to mind) always appealed to me because they seemed to have slightly more intuitive approaches to editing than vim, but I just don't think I can ever switch, purely because vim just exists everywhere I need it. It (or vi) is installed on practically every system I ever touch by default, and almost every IDE/editor under the sun supports vim keybinds either natively or via wel…

I have to agree. It is too similar to vim, yet it is not vim.... I dont get what is the value proposition here. I mean I feel helix is just stripped off SpaceVim ????

The value proposition is multi-cursor editing, which is very nice

Re: From VS Code to Helix

#79

Post by anticodon »

torben-friis wrote: post #7

A few days ago I was randomly reading about ed (after stumbling with the 'ed is the standard editor' joke) and reflecting over how much historical baggage we accumulate in computing. Commands like a for appending text are unchanged from the teletype era, which are so old that most people don't know computers used printers as an output before screens! It's pushed me to learn about projects that try to move beyond acum…

> Commands like a for appending text are unchanged from the teletype era

I don't find these commands a historical baggage. They're quite useful even today. Also commands like A, I, P, O in vim are super-useful when recording macros (macros are easier to record and more robust because they less depend on the context where they would be run).

Re: From VS Code to Helix

#80

Post by janice1999 »

preommr wrote: post #19

> Microsoft is also based in the USA, and the political climate over there makes me want to depend as little as possible on American tools. I know that’s a long, uphill battle, but we have to start somewhere. I miss the days when we had militant, but more entertaining zealots like Stallman. Whatever else you can say about his antics, Stallman was comitted. And that craziness wrapped back around to being entertaining.…

> Where's the fire and passion behind the resistance?

The working class are exhausted and a paycheck away from losing their homes. People don't have the time or energy to fight back for privacy/sovereignty/whatever inconveniences those in power. Stallman grew up privileged, went to the best universities at the best possible time and worked in academia. He had plenty of time to devote to political causes.

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