[sneed_chucker]

It's not the GUI per se that people want, but it's the useful default configuration.

If I'm working on a project I want to see the file tree, I want multiple editor tabs for different files, I want to be able to full text search the project I have open, I want a terminal window to execute commands on, and most importantly I want to be able to switch between these elements without needing to learn a new set of opaque keyboard commands.

VSCode/Codium gives you this out of the box with zero friction so it's no wonder that it's consuming market share like nobody's business.

I wish it wasn't electron and I wish it wasn't Microsoft, but until there's a better alternative that's what I'm using most of the time.