IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Fine, I'll build my own text editor

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

Three prevalent themes in the discussion

1. Sublime Text’s speed and simplicity keep it relevant

Many commenters praise Sublime Text for being fast, lightweight, and capable of handling large files without the bloat they see in newer editors.

  • “I used sublime text over so many years. Still find it to be a marvel when it comes to large text files, and how well it still handles them” – asabla
  • “I still don't see a point in switching from Sublime to VS Code… Sublime does everything I need it to do and it does it faster and cleaner and just better than the alternatives.” – cwnyth
  • “At this point the main advantage VS Code has is its ecosystem… most of its plugins are outdated / haven't been updated in five years.” – Cthulhu_
  • “I mean… they still make sublime text. Works great.” – mangecoeur

2. Good defaults matter as much as configurability

A recurring point is that powerful editors (especially Emacs/Vim) can deter newcomers when their out‑of‑the‑box experience is poor; solid defaults lower the barrier to entry.

  • “In general, I find that good defaults are rather undervalued and downplayed in the FOSS world. Configurability is great but without good defaults it can also be a liability.” – cosmic_cheese
  • “How many years did it take Debian to activate syntax highlighting for nano? Is the bash history still very short? So many low hanging fruits.” – Mashimo
  • “The terribleness of emacs defaults is over done… it's just what you get used to.” – kodoman
  • “Defaults really shouldn't change. Each time I upgrade my OS, I get a new version of vim, and have to add more” – iso1631

3. Text editing is seen as a solved problem; new tools feel like reinvention

Several participants argue that the core problem of editing text has already been solved (by vim, Emacs, etc.) and that many modern editors merely re‑package existing ideas.

  • “I don't understand why everyone just switches to these random tools. Text editing is a solved problem. Most of the supposed advantages of these tools is just a configuration of vim or emacs.” – anon291
  • “Text editing is a solved problem.” – self_awareness
  • “>Text editing is a solved problem. I have this sentence so much.” – not-so-darkstar
  • “Because very few people actually care about the things that emacs has to offer. Tools like VS Code do the job well enough for the majority of people…” – kstenerud

🚀 Project Ideas

Neovim‑Zero

Summary

  • A zero‑config Neovim distribution that bundles sensible defaults, built‑in LSP auto‑installation, and seamless local LLM chat inside buffers.
  • Core value proposition: gives Vim/Neovim lovers the power of AI and modern IDE features without the steep learning curve or memory bloat of VS Code.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Developers who prefer modal editing but want AI assistance, low RAM usage, and consistent setup across machines
Core Feature Pre‑configured Lua plugins for LSP, tree‑sitter, autocomplete, and an integrated LLM chat window that works with local models (Ollama) or remote APIs
Tech Stack Neovim (Lua), Lua‑based plugin manager (lazy.nvim), optional Rust helpers for performance, Ollama/Llama.cpp for LLM
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • HN commenters praised Vim/Neovim for speed and keyboard efficiency but lamented missing AI and complicated setup (iLemming: “Emacs is a text orchestrator…”; anon291: “start from a good base… like Doom Emacs or Spacemacs”). Neovim‑Zero offers that base with AI baked in.
  • Provides a practical path to the “text orchestrator” dream without leaving the familiar modal editing environment, addressing the desire for AI‑driven workflows (kodoman, patchbit).

TextOrchestrator

Summary

  • A lightweight desktop editor built with Tauri and Rust that combines a crisp editing pane with one‑click orchestration powers: fetch URLs, OCR screen, control media, run LLMs, and interact with issue trackers via natural language.
  • Core value proposition: delivers Emacs‑level text orchestration and AI‑assisted workflows in a native, low‑latency app with sensible defaults, eliminating the need for heavyweight web‑based editors.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Users who want Emacs‑style extensibility without the steep learning curve, and developers needing fast, native performance for large files
Core Feature Command palette driven by an LLM that translates natural language (e.g., “get PRs for Jira ticket ABC‑123”) into executable actions (API calls, OCR, media control)
Tech Stack Tauri (Rust backend), Sciter or xi‑editor core for the text view, React/Svelte frontend for UI, Ollama for local LLM
Difficulty High
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Commenters highlighted the power of Emacs as a text orchestrator (iLemming: “you can query a model anytime… start chatting with an agent…”) and the frustration with web‑editor bloat (tredre3: “VSCode at least has the excuse of being a full web browser”). TextOrchestrator gives that orchestrator ability in a native binary.
  • Addresses the desire for good defaults out of the box (cosmic_cheese) while keeping the ability to reach out and extract text from any app, a need expressed by iLemming’s OCR/URL fetching examples.

Syncdot

Summary

  • A cross‑platform dotfiles synchronizer that automatically harmonizes editor configurations (VS Code, Sublime, Neovim, Emacs) and resolves conflicts via AI‑driven suggestions, keeping your dev environment identical on every machine.
  • Core value proposition: eliminates the “works on my machine” problem for editors, letting teams share a single, vetted setup without manual fiddling.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Developers who work on multiple machines (laptop, desktop, remote servers) and teams that want standardized editor tooling
Core Feature Git‑backed sync daemon that watches editor config folders, applies transforms (e.g., mapping VS Code settings to Neovim Lua), and uses an LLM to propose fixes for incompatible plugins or keybindings
Tech Stack Rust (or Go) for the daemon, libgit2 for synchronization, optional LLM API for conflict resolution, CLI + optional web UI
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Many HN users complained about the pain of keeping environments in sync (e.g., iso1631

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