I've recently [read the last couple days] just gotten a tiny Linux laptop running E17 off xUbuntu that I've been meaning to pick up web development on again.

For years I've been using console-only Linux systems [read Vim], so I'm not really up on what's good and new in regards to GUI apps.

So what recommendations do folks have?
I've heard good things about Bluefish and Kate as well as gVim, but I'm sure there are many others as well to take a look at.

Feedback appreciated.


Edit: Two main requirements given the size [physically and logically] of the laptop.
1- Don't want something with huge library dependencies
2- Don't want something where most of the screen real estate is taken up by widges.


Edit the second: What I do want-
1- Folding
2- Syntax highlighting
3- Tabs
4- If possible, ability to synch local folder with remote directory, though I can do this with an RCS instead if need be.

Komodo Edit is quite nice.

I liked Bluefish a lot. I assume you will have GTK and won't consider that a huge library of dependencies.

I don't think I've ever particularly liked anything in Linux. There's always something that the program would do or not do that would aggravate the hell out of me. Saddens me greatly because it also means that the options of OS X are slim.

Kate will do what you need. One of the default plugins adds tabs.

Wait, so you are blaming a kernel for a percieved lack of functionality in userspace applications that just happen to run on it?

...what?

I think you need to re-read my sentence.

Hint: it was a joke. I'm poking fun at the fact that you are incorrectly calling $random_distribution "Linux", when Linux is just a kernel, and has no user interface at all.

Some would say this is the root of the problem.

He was clearly referring to the whole of Linux applications when he said "Linux". I'm also pretty sure he's only talking about MDI editing apps and not Linux apps as a whole.

I don't do enough editing under Linux to have an opinion on this. I usually just use Kate or Kedit or Gedit or wine notepad (by accident) or pico. Usually I only do quick jobies. Most of my major editing I'm usually in Windows to do and I've used Notepad, however I'm starting to like Notepad++.

basically what im suggesting is that the bad part of GNU/Linux is the GNU/ part.

but we've already had this thread recently.

What does Dormouse mean by 'MDI'? I've only ever heard it mean Multiple Document Interface but I don't know why Dormouse would specifically request an application on that basis, especially when the window-as-document layout lets you do neat things like span your code across multiple monitors more easily.

Did he mean IDE?

No, he means an editor that can open more than one file at once, and allow the user to switch between them.
Dormouse does not strike me as the kind of person that would use an IDE.

I like Scite.

But most all editors including IDEs do that.

And I was referring to Linux as a platform, not as a kernel. >.>

gbk, it's not polite to trivialize dormouse's projects

No trivialization taken. A great deal of the functionality provided/advertised by a lot of the IDEs I've seen really doesn't do much for me.

Looked at Bluefish, but it felt like it came with too many buttons and bars and widgets for what I really needed.

Kate actually looks almost exactly like what I was looking for, intelligent folding [tag-based vs purely indent-based], good highlighting ootb. Turn a few bars off and it fits perfectly without the real estate and clutter a lot of what I've looked at seems to offer.

Haven't found a tabbed browsing plugin per se, but there is the Documents sidebar that lists open files at least.

Only other thing I'd be curious about is a plugin to validate via w3, even if it is just something to refer the local page to w3 on default browser or what have you.

Thanks for the recommendation, gbk. I'm liking it so far.


Edit: Found the tabs plugin, strangely enough in the kate-plugins package.

gedit has tabs and syntax highlighting as well. I've been happy using it. Kate uses kde libs and gedit uses gtk libs, so one of them may have a little less overhead depending on what you're already using.

My point exactly.


I do take offense at the idea that non-trvial projects somehow necessitate the use of an IDE, but not nearly enough to argue about it.

Creating a nontrivial software project with an IDE is like building a house with pneumatic tools.

By which I mean there are numerous obvious advantages and zero obvious disadvantages. It's certainly possible to do the job without, but why wouldn't you use them?

Because I'm Amish.


Take that as you will.

linux raped my father

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
  do her}
elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
  do other babe}
else{
  do a dude}

But it's true. Non-trivial projects are nearly impossible without an IDE. Try doing extensive code refactoring with vi, Emacs or even Kate. Try something like renaming a class or method. By the time someone can open that stupid little prompt in Vi, I can have already renamed a class and had the changes propgated across 100 files using Eclipse or Visual Studio. And that's just the most basic of refactoring features.

Oh, but wait, silly me, real programmers write code once and never refactor!

I refactor like... uh... some kind of... refactoring... someone who refactors a lot.

You're code refactoring man?

Also Jon, do you use ReSharper? I tried version 3 once a while ago but didn't keep it after I upgraded my system. But then I used IntelliJ for another project, and found its analysis and refactoring to be and since IntelliJ and ReSharper are both made by JetBrains, they share a lot of features. I'm currently awaiting version 4, because version 3 does not work with C# 3.0 features.

but they arent free

C++? Automated code refactoring? HAHAHA

By this he means he wrote his code so that it refactors itself automatically, just as how everything else he writes is somehow magically automatic. I'm sort of afraid to run one of his projects because I think it might start automatically using itself or something.

Visual Studio Express is free and has almost all of the same capabilities as the commercial editions.

Eclipse is free and arguably more powerful than Visual Studio, largely due to it's extensibility. There are Eclipse plugins for almost every language. Some are good, some are okay.

SharpDevelop is free. xacc.ide is free. Open source projects like Anjuta and KDevelop are free.

Visual Studio and Xcode both are both beer and there are dozens of libre ones: KDevelop, Anjuta, Netbeans, Dev-C++, Code::Blocks, MonoDevelop, Eclipse, and - yes - even vim and emacs

No.

Refactoring is the only thing my code does not do automatically.

Fixed.

but Dev-C++ is open source

Sure, but we're talking about IDEs here.

How is Dev-C++ not an IDE?

One of the criteria in my list for an IDE is that it increases productivity.

haha.

Gotta scratch KDevelop, vim and emacs from the list too then.

No, they aren't that bad.

apart from the fact that kdevelop is glitchy and often forces you to fix the makefile and manually libtoolize :p

I've never really used it. I'm just bitter about Dev-C++ if you can't tell.

Also, what.