If you need to use a specific dialect of lisp most people won't be familiar with, it does a poor job at it. Lisp is not a language many people use today. NeoVim lets you use any language you want for writing extensions. VS Code uses javascript which is easy to learn and most developers already know it.
Re:Making Emacs Popular Again (2020)
by underatree on Thursday November 04, 2021 @07:50AM
(#29105918)
It's a great strength that NeoVim supports many languages, and VS Code uses Javascript.
Lisp is not widely used, and this is an impediment to Emacs' popularity.
However, when people speak about Emacs customizability, they are referring to a deeper level of customizability than most programs (even NeoVim/VS Code), in which its innards and UI are all subject to modification, at runtime, within the beast itself. This isn't necessarily a good thing, but it happens to be my preference at least.
Re:Making Emacs Popular Again (2020)
by heartofgold on Thursday November 04, 2021 @09:43AM
(#29107073)
> Lisp is not widely used
This is so unfortunate. Lisp has so many good things to teach us.
So does neovim. As an example:
+1.
Emacs is a powerhouse of customizability, and it needs to work on functionality by default.
> Instead it's a toy for some old people who are still holding onto the remnants of an age that passed a long time ago. Emacs is basically useless compared to VS Code, and its authors are what's holding it back.
I don't think Emacs is held back by its authors. The article might not make it clear but RMS does not contribute much to the vision or code of Emacs today. Read emacs-devel, and though there's occasionally some conflicts, the authors are keen on progress aligned with what people expect from an editor.
Emacs is a complex platform, owing to its unique vision on blurring the line between user and developer. The authors do a great job of keeping that up-to-date.