I have been using KDE via Kubuntu for about 2 years now, other distros with Gnome before that. Based upon the name (KDE Advanced Text Editor, K.A.T.E.) I always thought of Kate as an alternative to Notepad++ or something like that. Like a highend note-taking app.
I recently started using Kate for managing my Docker-Compose yaml files on my homelab, using the Git functionality to sync to my repos and doing some web development. It's basically an alternative to VSCode or Codium.
Thanks to the devs who work on Kate . If you don't hear it enough we appreciate you!
One thing I miss from Notepad++ that I've never found in a Linux text editor is the ability to just open it and type stuff and it stays there even if you close it and open it again.
Have you tried using the Sessions feature in Kate? It allows you to pick up where you left off, even between multiple projects.
I haven't! But the main advantage of the Notepad++ way is the files aren't actually saved anywhere, it saves them temporarily until you choose where to properly save them. You can just keep opening new tabs and putting stuff in them and it remembers even if closed, but you don't have to actually save them.
Sublime Text supports this, but it's not FOSS.
For this reason, Sublime Text is to me basically a gigantic scratchpad with dozens of tabs open at all times 😂
Windows does this now /s
@Dave @yodeljunkmanenvy Hmm interesting... I personally tend to think of that as a feature of a notetaking app rather than a text editor. But I see how it could come in handy in a text editor too, sometimes.
Maybe I should be looking for a note taking app, but I want it for storing everything from to do list items to quick edits of code snippets so I kind of want the text editor features.
@Dave @diazona I use Obsidian for all that.
Hmm, I guess I have Joplin and I use it a lot, but it doesn't really feel the same as a text editor. I'm not really sure how to explain it haha
@Dave @bitterseeds FWIW I use Obsidian for notes but I feel like the way it handles code snippets is one of its weaknesses. Joplin seems marginally better 🤷 but I have not found a proper "code notes" app that I'm happy with.
@Dave Oh. I get you. I've jacked up VIM into a full on IDE, I do 98% of my day in VIM. Obsidian is good for a lot of stuff, I keep longer term code snippets and notes in it. I usually have two windows on my main VTE … VIM and Obsidian. :D
I get ya though. I do. I'm just an old head, so VIM will have to be removed my cold, dead hands. 🤣
I feel like I should up my game in vim. It's my preferred CLI text editor, I hate when things default to nano as I have trouble working out how to use it. But I very much use the OOTB vim and only basic commands at that.
When you say you have it set up as an IDE, are you talking something that looks like the first picture here (with the red boxes)? I have so much to learn 😅