Post #986556
2026-04-07 20:15 UTC
Replies (17)
-
@pathunstrom@ngmx.com 2026-04-07 21:01
Clarifications/thoughts: "Has AI plugins" isn't a deal breaker. If all the tools did AI stuff strictly as plugins and not forcing them on everyone, I wouldn't be having this conversation. Yes, I know demanding cross platform is demanding, but I write code that is consumed by students. The most likely OS for them to develop on? Windows. If you come at me with OS elitism, I'm as likely to block you as verbally slap you. Yes, I like Linux, too, but I don't have the power or time to convince every person on the planet to switch. And replacing all the tools isn't strictly necessary! I'll take "good for Python" or "good for the web" or "good for databases". I do need to replace all those specialties because they're currently all jetbrains for me. And a single tool would be amazing, but I recognize that's complicated.
-
@pathunstrom@ngmx.com 2026-04-09 19:14
Okay, I've compiled all the suggestions, just for community interest: The top three suggestions: 1) VSCodium with 7 total suggestions 2) Emacs with 6 3) vim/neovim with 5 For the data nerds: A "suggestion" is "mentioned positively by a person". A person could (and many did!) make multiple suggestions. I combined vim and neovim by personal preference. I did not keep the differentiation, but I don't think neovim was suggested on its own, and vim was. Also, multiple emacs folks were self deprecating in their suggestion, which I find funny considering my network has a bunch of fans.
-
@efi@chitter.xyz 2026-04-07 20:18
@pathunstrom would Kate from the KDE suite fit your needs? (assuming you use linux like a sane person)
-
@art_codesmith@toot.cafe 2026-04-07 20:30
@pathunstrom Hmm. I used to use Spyder (https://www.spyder-ide.org) but it was a long time ago. Ultimately, for Python, I think your best bet would be to use Vim/Neovim¹/Helix/Emacs with a language server. ¹ AFAIK both Vim and Neovim contain AI-generated code, in case it matters to you.
-
@tunafishtiger@mastodon.online 2026-04-07 20:43
@pathunstrom I mean, it's tough to find a robust program that does all of those things, which is why I still use, but I am personally trying Gram soon to see how well it does. It's Zed without the baggage. https://gram.liten.app
-
@mahryekuh@hachyderm.io 2026-04-07 21:06
@pathunstrom Adding in case you missed it, and otherwise ignore this suggestion: If you do like VS Code as an editor, you might find VSCodium a workable alternative. It's still based on the M$ product, but stripped of its telemetry. https://vscodium.com
-
@cczona@hachyderm.io 2026-04-07 21:20
@pathunstrom oooh nice, but you left out the key part: > Unlike Visual Studio Code, in VSCodium, Copilot features are disabled and not configured. https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodium/blob/master/docs/ext-github-copilot.md
-
@astraluma@tacobelllabs.net 2026-04-07 22:48
@pathunstrom only one I know that's AI free and truly cross platform (as opposed to incidentally runs on Windows) is Sublime. But it's really an advanced text editor, not an IDE. I definitely don't know of anything resembling datagrip for it.
-
@hipsterelectron@circumstances.run 2026-04-07 22:55
@pathunstrom https://emacsconf.org/2024/talks/regex/ i'm not sure i can sell you on it directly but i gave a talk on one aspect that you may find interesting. the slides have more info than the video
-
@penny@eldritch.cafe 2026-04-07 23:20
@pathunstrom I’m confident there’s no analogue, things are generally going to be uncomfortable from here on out. AI is an existential threat, and it will destroy the things we love.
-
@annathyst@teh.entar.net 2026-04-07 23:51
@pathunstrom I use emacs with lsp-mode and Pyright (well,hacked pylance, but that's its own story) for python and i've been quite happy with it. I accept that this is probably not what you're going to go with :)
-
@patterfloof@meow.social 2026-04-08 00:33
@pathunstrom Eclipse with the PyDev extension (https://eclipseide.org/)? Haven't used it in years, but it's a Java program (so Windows & Linux compatible at least) & their website doesn't shout "AI"
-
@aearo@dragon.style 2026-04-08 00:58
@pathunstrom Well... Vim isn't really an IDE, but Vim + other tools serves as an excellent not-so-I DE. Which is how Vim is intentionally supposed to work. It's good at integrating with other stuff. Maybe this is the right opportunity to tackle that learning curve? `$ vimtutor` is a great place to start, assuming you're on anything non-Windows and have your Vim package installed already.
-
@Kehvarl@furry.engineer 2026-04-08 02:30
@pathunstrom Is Pulsar Editor a non-starter for you? It's basically a fork of Atom. Last I used it it still supported the atom plugins, and I know for certain it works on Linux and Windows even with fairly modest resources. I can't speak to mac is from personal experience.
-
@fcalva@cyberplace.social 2026-04-08 07:29
@pathunstrom Vim and Emacs ofc. But if you really want a fancy GUI i-dee-ee, i think Kate is a decent option.
-
@tom@epsom.social 2026-04-08 16:37
@pathunstrom I put off the question by switching to "not paying for JetBrains and sticking with the last version I have a perpetual license for". Not sure how long that's gonna fly, but at least it buys some time :-/
-
@mcc@mastodon.social 2026-04-08 18:06
@pathunstrom Personal experience: I use Sublime Text. It runs identically and rock solid across Mac, Linux, and Windows (I use all three). It is closed source and you have to pay $80 every 3 years. It's fully themeable (I do hax to make it look the way it did in 2009) and fully scriptable with Python. Because of LSP, essentially all VSCodium plugins work on it (ie, all VS Code plugins that aren't MS propreitary), although sometimes not as smoothly. You may demand better refactoring than me tho.