[tsm]

If it's useful to other people--and obviously it is--it was worth writing, so congratulations on shipping.

That said, put me in the category of crotchety old Vim users (even though I'm only 20) who really don't have a use for this. Potential use cases:

Scrolling: If it's a few lines, I tap j a few times--or guesstimate a number prefix. It's just scrolling--no precision needed. If it's more than a few lines, I use C-d/C-u. If I need to teleport to a line I know about, :<absolute linenum> is fine.

Yanking/Deleting/Changing/Indenting: I turn on visual line mode (V), and proceed as above. Or, depending on the language I'm in, I'll do, for example, yi{ to yank everything in the current block. Or use () judiciously.

So...what's the actual use case for this? Not trying to be critical--I just want to understand how I'd integrate it into my workflow.

[yetanotherjosh]

Are you asking the use case for relative line numbers or for the plugin? For relative line numbering, the benefit I see is the ability to move with precision to specific lines without (a) switching to line-wise selection mode during visual selection, or (b) losing your horizontal cursor position, both of which are required for using the :<line number> jump. As for the plugin, it just makes switching between relative and absolute numbers conveniently automatic.

[nilkn]

Absolute line numbers are really annoying to use in huge files with thousands of lines (because it takes a noticeable amount of time just to type the number).

[nitrogen]

My workaround for this was practicing typing symbols and numbers using a typing program (back when I was a young teen). Now I can type a number like 42385 very nearly as fast as a word like hello.

[jbnicolai]

I agree with your points, and would like to add that with EasyMotion it has even less use.