WeavejesterSep 30, 2025

I've used Spacemacs for some years now as my primary editor, but recently I've been looking into #neovim.

It starts up a lot quicker, even with a bunch of plugins, and surprisingly for a terminal editor it has a more sophisticated UI than windowed Emacs.

Show threadZach 🇮🇱 🇺🇸Sep 30, 2025
@weavejester I’ve been using #vim for nearly 30 years :facepalm:. #neovim has re-wired my workflow.
Yes, #emacs fans will tell you the same about their #editor — but these tools aren’t just rivals, they represent opposing philosophies. Vim/Neovim: speed, composability, the Unix ethos. Emacs: the “OS inside your editor,” everything bundled in. Both have strengths, but they reveal two very different ways of thinking about code, control, and workflow.
Show threadrestoranteOct 1, 2025

@demiguru

I understand that emacs is designed to be invoked and then one will live in it until the end of his session. While vi is designed to be invoked as needed.

But on today's computer, emacs usually is also super fast, whether their invocation, opening files or when processing something.

I understand that emacs is not following Unix philosophy at all.

But in a sense, emacs is nothing but elisp interpreter with some addition to aid text editing.

All of those elisp packages are not emacs. They are just elisp packages, running on emacs. And those elisp packages usually are highly specialized tools.

I understand composability means each tools can be combined to build a more complex solution, such as through piping and redirection.

In a sense, elisp packages are just functions. We can use them in our own elisp code. But I know, it is different with the Unix composability.

#GNUEmacs #Emacs

@weavejester

Show threadWeavejester

@restorante Unfortunately I haven't been able to get Emacs to run super fast, even on modern machines - and I've tried both MacOS and Linux.

While I've used Spacemacs for years and love it, its relative sluggishness has been a real annoyance, and probably the biggest factor in why I keep looking for alternatives.

Oct 1, 2025 at 1:55amWeb
Show threadCrandel 🇺🇦  Oct 1, 2025
@weavejester It is just a matter of configuration. I've built my config from scratch, never trust any frameworks. I can check and debug any bottlenecks and defer them using use-package. My #Emacs is starting less than second and I can't see big difference between it and #Vim , except vim is very limited and can do only 10% of what #Emacs is capable of.
Show threadmgdOct 1, 2025
@crandel @weavejester When you say you don't trust frameworks, do you mean things like Space/Doom?
Show threadCrandel 🇺🇦  Oct 1, 2025
@mgd @weavejester Yes, and the same from vim side too.
Show threadmgdOct 1, 2025
@crandel @weavejester thank you, I thought you meant packages. I use Vanilla Emacs and am trying to make use of in-built packages over external ones
Show threadWeavejesterOct 1, 2025

@crandel It's certainly something to do with the packages I have installed. Before I used Spacemacs I used a custom configuration, but it wasn't appreciably faster.

I'm sure vanilla Emacs runs much quicker, but if I want the functionality those packages provide, that doesn't help me much.

Show threadCrandel 🇺🇦  Oct 1, 2025

@weavejester No, that's wrong assumptions. Vanilla #Emacs is not faster than Spacemacs or Doom. But you can configure it to be using defer and autoloading. I put some time and effort on it and defer most of the packages, as they could be loaded later, only when they are needed. You can find some inspiration here

https://github.com/Crandel/home/tree/master/.config/emacs

home/.config/emacs at master · Crandel/home

my linux home settings. Contribute to Crandel/home development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub
Show threadWeavejesterOct 1, 2025

@crandel But that would only affect startup though, right? I don't have any issue with startup time, as I run Emacs in server mode that boots up when I log in. Opening a new Emacs client is instant.

My problem is more general sluggishness and performance hitches, particularly when editing larger files.

Show threadCrandel 🇺🇦  Oct 1, 2025
@weavejester It is highly depends on your setup and files you are working on. For really big files I use vim too. But for regular software development in #GoLang with gopls as lsp server I have no issues at all. But I heard lsp server for #Python could be very slow.