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by ribelo 849 days ago
Helix is a very good and well-managed project, but it's quite hostile towards its own community. There are no plugins, and they won't be in Wasm like users want, but in Scheme dialect named Steel, that nobody want... if at all. Missing features like copilot or file browser expected by the community are essentially never merged into the master. This might be a better path than total dispersion and destruction of what works, but my expectations do not align with what the creators offer, so I give them the freedom to choose. I keep my fingers crossed for its development, but I personally use something else.
2 comments

As a user, I certainly do not find it hostile.

In a "batteries included" edit a service like copilot that expose all data to a third party is a terrible anti-feature.

As for script-oriented plugins vs wasm - I see a tradeoff - and don't think neither are right or wrong.

Cross editor plugins via a common wasm api might be fun, but perhaps not very practical.

Edit: link to relevant issues and discussion:

https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/discussions/3806#discu...

https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/issues/122

https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/issues/1927

Copilot has many fans, and for many, the ability to use Copilot is more important than all the other "batteries-included" features. It's not for me or anyone else to judge. Everyone should make their own choices.

Regarding plugins, I'm with Helix from the beginning, i have read everything, and I understand the motivation well and can accept it. Perhaps this is what the ideal editor looks like for creators, but it definitely doesn't look like the ideal editor for me. I respect their decision, but I'm sticking with Neovim and might switch to ZED when Linux support becomes available.

Why do you consider switching to ZED from Neovim? ZED is lightyears away from a good Neovim setup in terms of functionality and efficiency. The problem with Neovim is the setup and config to do all, but you already mastered it.
I still don't understand why you claimed that:

> [Helix]'s quite hostile towards its own community.

"good and well-managed" vs "[merges everything] users want" - pick one
Generally agreed, but in the editor space that's where plugins come into play. The plugin story for Helix is a long one, but I think it's converging and bet it's coming within this year.
I pick to stay with neovim.