Alternatives to notepad++

23    17 Feb 2016 19:25 by u/thewhitewizzard

So I hate the whole SJW thing that happened and how the creator of notepad++ handled it.

I like syntax highlighting, tabs and block delete.

what alternatives do you guys recommend? (using windows 7 as req of work).

Edit: I've tried Brackets with a plugin, but It can't load files more than 16 megs. I just recently got a file that is 60 megs to work on, so I'm trying a few others next.

48 comments

17 u/sheepsexplode 17 Feb 2016 19:38

Sublime Text is all that I can think of.

Can I as what happened with SJW and Notepad++ apparently I missed that. I did some Google and all I see is some stuff about Halloween costumes?

10 u/thewhitewizzard [OP] 17 Feb 2016 19:41

It was something about his comment that (and im paraphrasing here) "believe the same things or stop using the software".

I really hate that authoritarian mentality

1 u/tomlinas 17 Feb 2016 21:37

Sounds like you opted for door number 2. Good for you.

I also use Sublime Text and it's quite good. I like focus mode.

10 u/BlubberyMuffin 18 Feb 2016 02:28

I like using notepad++ while disagreeing with his politics. It clearly upsets him and that makes me happy.

0 u/DrBunsen 18 Feb 2016 13:02

Good to know I upset someone whilst I am using his software

3 u/ultimatemuffin 18 Feb 2016 04:40

Wasn't that in response to sjw's getting mad that notepad++ typed "je Sui charlie" on startup for a while after the charlie hebdo attacks?

2 u/reg0 17 Feb 2016 20:41

Sublime is a really good lightweight replacement

0 u/IdSay 18 Feb 2016 07:08

does it do C# as well? or do you need an intellisense addon for that, like notepad++?

5 u/8bCvYq2vpg 18 Feb 2016 07:29

https://atom.io is better.

2 u/Vloorshad 18 Feb 2016 16:13

I like Atom, too, but I was looking up something to back up that I think they're backed by GitHub, when I found the following in their FAQ:

Why does Atom send usage data to Google Analytics?

In the same way that aggregate usage information is important when developing a web application, we've found that it's just as important for desktop applications. By knowing which Atom features are being used the most, and how the editor is performing, we can focus our development efforts in the right place. For details on what data Atom is sending or to learn how to disable metrics gathering, visit https://github.com/atom/metrics.

At least they tell you how to disable it, though I haven't looked into it yet as I have more pressing matters to take care of right now.

2 u/8bCvYq2vpg 02 Mar 2016 06:24

I've noticed Atom connects to all the internet as soon as it loads up.

1 u/Vloorshad 02 Mar 2016 19:07

I've been becoming concerned about it. I'm not good enough with it to really put my finger on it, but their metrics, relationship to GitHub, and now this... I think I'm going to need to find an alternative. I really liked its setup, too.

1 u/8bCvYq2vpg 04 Mar 2016 20:54

If you're capable, you could try forking.

5 u/Vladar 17 Feb 2016 20:05

I'm using vim with couple of plugins. It's good if you have time to figure it out.

6 u/Wowbagger 17 Feb 2016 21:01

VIM is amazing and definitely worth the time to learn. It slowed down for about a week but it was worth it. I'm most productive in VIM now.

1 u/8bCvYq2vpg 18 Feb 2016 07:29

http://vim-adventures.com/

3 u/TelescopiumHerscheli 17 Feb 2016 20:59

Could you provide a link to "the whole SJW thing", please. Thanks in advance!

2 u/thewhitewizzard [OP] 17 Feb 2016 21:14

Its been a lot of stuff on twitter, the costume thing is one of the issues I have. then there is the uninstall comments for various reason on the twitter feed.

Currently there is one about supporting an emergency power thing to the french constitution.

https://twitter.com/Notepad_plus

2 u/tomlinas 17 Feb 2016 21:40

What's weird is it's not like the author of the software is posting beliefs you disagree with -- it's literally the twitter account of Notepad++ telling you to uninstall it if you feel a certain way...

I've never been a Notepad++ user anyway, but I guess they don't want me to start :P

3 u/oddlydrawn 18 Feb 2016 02:07

I like vim/gVim. Start with vimtutor. Is this (visual block mode) similar to the block delete you need?

Screenshot of the guioptions not disabled (with tab bar, buttons, menu bar, scroll bar. The tab bar is below the buttons. I'm not sure if it's the default tab bar or airline's enhanced tab bar.

Here's me editing python. Here's :Gdiff (git diff) from tpope's vim-fugitive plugin. Here's a regular non-git vim diff.

Here's my vimrc. You would need to install junegunn's vim-plug and :PlugInstall to set everything up. I also have eclim (mainly for java completion from eclipse in vim) and ag (silver searcher, for faster ctrl+p searching)

2 u/revfredsanford 17 Feb 2016 20:12

I've been ok with EditPlus

2 u/Karys 17 Feb 2016 22:21

Learn vim.

1 u/Futt 17 Feb 2016 19:58

There was Sublime Text, but it seems all but abandoned. I use Atom, but they might not be quite to your liking as they have adopted a rather Tumblresqe CoC, dunno.

0 u/Master_Foo 17 Feb 2016 23:48

Abandoned? There was an update for it just last week...

I tried Atom for a while. I don't give a fuck about their CoC. I mean, who cares about SJW Hipster programmers? But Atom is slow as fuck and hogs all the resources. Atom is what happens when Cargo Cult Web Developers decide they are going to write a native app.

1 u/LonElliott 17 Feb 2016 20:34

I have been really liking Atom lately. Great plugins and support for it. RemoteEdit plugin lets me SSH into my host and edit files. Really dig it lately.

1 u/CirdanValen 17 Feb 2016 20:56

I really like Atom.....but that's another SJW platform (GitHub)

0 u/alphabit 17 Feb 2016 20:01

Notepadqq

0 u/Reaper29 17 Feb 2016 20:23

I've been using Brackets since moving off of Notepad++ for the same reason as OP, and I am absolutely loving it. It has a lot of the features OP is looking for, is open source, and has many plug ins (one plug in will give you tabs, if you like them).

0 u/tcp 17 Feb 2016 20:25

EditPadPro, SublimeText, or vim.

0 u/doorknob22 17 Feb 2016 22:47

Atom is sort of SJW-ed up so I hear. I would recommend vim if you are willing to put in the time to learn to use the tool.

Otherwise gedit is your best option to my knowledge.

https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Gedit#Download

0 u/cat-facts 18 Feb 2016 00:21

I'd point out Atom from Github but they are hardly any less SJW.

0 u/asdghjklfghasldk 18 Feb 2016 01:01

sweet how long until it some one forks something like notepad#

also everyone suggesting vi/vim don't forget to tell op to first install a virtual machine so he has access to it via putty ... ideally he should force IT to give him an old machine that he can hide in some odd closet or roof so he can putty in to edit his text to copy back to his crappy edition of VS2008 express the company is too cheap to pay for

0 u/weezkitty 18 Feb 2016 01:01

Programmers Notepad is what I use on Windows. Otherwise Vim

0 u/Lopsid 18 Feb 2016 06:49

I use Geany. License: (GLPv2)

Geany is a text editor using the GTK+ toolkit with basic features of an integrated development environment. It was developed to provide a small and fast IDE, which has only a few dependencies from other packages. It supports many filetypes and has some nice features.

It has plugins and all kinds of shortcuts. It's really fast and lightweight. Minimal non-current version because Debian.

0 u/dbag2070 18 Feb 2016 07:30

another vote for sublime.

0 u/CUPSLOCK 18 Feb 2016 14:15

Sublime text is what I use. It isn't exactly free but I love it. Atom is like sublime which is free but I had stability problems with it. I used to use jEdit and gVim before I switched to sublime.

0 u/ZigZagWanderer 18 Feb 2016 15:45

After checking it out I wouldn't consider the np++ guy an SJW. No threats, no insults, no intimidation, no getting anyone fired. Just one insensitive tweet which he later sort-of apologized for.

0 u/BakedMofoBread 18 Feb 2016 17:13

Why don't we just fork it?

0 u/Dixie_Flatline 18 Feb 2016 17:15

Been trying KATE and geany, but mainly been using gedit.

0 u/Gamerdog6482 18 Feb 2016 20:04

Visual Studio Code if you want something that isn't super hardcore.

Emacs if you do. I use them both, on both my windows and linux installations.