Julia EvansOct 10
notes on switching to Helix from vim https://jvns.ca/blog/2025/10/10/notes-on-switching-to-helix-from-vim/
Notes on switching to Helix from vim

Notes on switching to Helix from vim

Julia Evans
Show threadJulia EvansOct 11

I haven’t blogged for a while and I forgot how internet commenters can get bizarrely angry about statements like “I got tired of managing my vim config so I decided to stop using vim for now”, as if it’s some kind of attack on vim (or on them??)

It makes me really appreciate @grimalkina’s work on developer culture, like this https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/2gej5_v2

I still have a lot to learn but her work has helped me start to understand where this stuff comes from

(I used vim for a long time and I love it!)

OSF

Show threadCat HicksOct 11

@b0rk thank you!!

I really need to write my "when thinking about our tools is thinking about ourselves" paper

Show threadMichael NewtonOct 11
@grimalkina @b0rk I have met so many IT professionals over the years who desperately need to need that paper, and I would love to read it. Unfortunately, the intersection of those who need to read it with the IT professionals I've met who would never read that paper is pretty high, and this makes me sad.
Show threadCat HicksOct 11
@mavnn @b0rk I mostly focus on empowering the people who want to create change with that group, rather than reaching them directly
Show threadMichael NewtonOct 11

@grimalkina @b0rk Oh, totally. And with some people - especially very new or junior devs - something as simple as teaching them a second programming language with different strengths immediately breaks the "tool = self" mindset without having to have the explicit conversation at all.

But then there's also the entire organizations that lean into the tool as identity thing as a substitute for having a deliberate culture, which just straight up scare me.

Show threadCat Hicks
@mavnn @b0rk definitely!! It's such an interesting and big problem!!
Oct 11 at 11:20amWeb
Show threadCat HicksOct 11
@mavnn @b0rk (I'm sorry, when psychologists hear "this sucks" we are like Mr Burns hands excellent gif PUT ME IN COACH about it)
Show threadMichael NewtonOct 11
@grimalkina @b0rk Oh no worries, I have my own areas of "oh, well that sounds interesting to fix" when being told about other people's problems! And unlike some other points in my career it's not actually my problem right now, so I can be particularly sanguine about it...