Anyone else still sticking with Sublime in 2026?

[juanfal]

I appreciate Sublime Text as much as I do the terminal, though I would not describe myself as exclusively committed to terminal-based or Linux-only tools.

I find VSCode unappealing, as are other monolithic all-in-one platforms. What I prefer is a lightweight, fast, native editor that is straightforward to configure, minimal in its interference with other tools, yet sophisticated enough to support customisation of build systems, keyboard shortcuts, and syntax highlighting.

Sublime Text inherits substantially from TextMate, which I used extensively alongside Alpha, an earlier single-author editor that was eventually discontinued. By contrast, VSCode exemplifies Microsoft’s characteristic all-encompassing strategy: a unified platform engineered for universal adoption. This approach does not appeal to me.

[Innovator]

Where are the views of the Chair (OP)? before adding to the debate?

[gstalnaker]

It is my main gui editor (I use micro from a terminal). This is primarily because I have found no other editor with the plugin for markdown editing that so seemlessly integrates with pandoc. It just works. And has been working (same plugin with multiple versions of ST and pandoc) for at least a decade on both Windows (when I used it at work) and Linux (my personal computers). I’ve looked at Atom, VSCode, Notepad++, KEdit - none of them have the integration I want.

[zweber]

I use it all the time. I have tried others, but I come back to ST. My old eyes can’t take the colors and font sizes on other editors. ST is soft and relaxing. I like clean and simple. My code is clean and simple, mostly CF on Lucee. I would like to see it integrated with my server so I did not have to FTP constantly. I started using it around 2018, 8 years now. My AI assistant has learned how I like my code structured, which is very helpful. Hoping Sublime Text out lives me.

[Innovator]

This is primarily because I have found no other editor with the plugin for markdown editing that so seemlessly integrates with pandoc.

There is one that I used earlier … and still have it in Ubuntu … zettlr … but I am settling into Subl as sole scribing tool since it is easy on my eyes. But my approach now is to weave Subl into Ubuntu rich choice of tools to pair with. That works very well. And I might even pair Subl with Zettlr as a trial now that I am reminded. For example I use Krusader and view /sublime-text-3/Packages/User in one of the two panels. I have a file Tutorial.md sitting there. I can open with … Subl or other apps such as Zettlr. In fact I have just done that as a test. Zettlr launches the Tutorial.md I started in Subl. Now I can try both worlds.

P.S. Try quarto (*.qmd) in parallel with *.md. I have a quarto build option in Subl.

[Innovator]

P.P.S. I now envisage Subl sitting in a Venn Diagram of overlapping ecosystems. That is how I now manage my Ubuntu desktop estate. I use Subl to edit the “innards” of other collaboratng Apps where I place them under /Packages/User/_Gateway (my innovation) and in Packages/User/_Gateway I include Apps, Services, you name it, all subject to Subl Editing regime. A Venn diagram. A “one stop scribing environment”. Just like the old Atom editor model with electrons whizzing around a core Proton. But that is my metaphorical side working again which earned some flags. Works nicely minimising need for Packages/Plugins to communicate with outside world in this Venn Diagram Model.

Later edit. I have just installed BoxySVG in my “Venn Diagram” framework. Now I can edit the SVG code in Subl and View the output in BoxySVG renderer. I can pull in SVG snippets from Subl snippets to merge with SVG. Just one example. No Packages or Plugins needed.

SVG starter tutorial here. https://www.w3schools.com/graphics/tryit.asp?filename=trysvg_myfirst

Edit in Subl.

[prosia]

Hi, any chance you could share your dot files / settings files, please?

[Innovator]

I have loads of dot files (if you refer to /.config ecosystem) but I am not a github hacker. I tend to build from seat of pants by orchestrating what I see on the screen. That is by UI automation. Much depends on UI compatibility cross OS. I focus on Ubuntu but can experiment with Windows/Mac , if I must, to collaborate. I don’t often write Packages/Plugins since they begin to clutter the landscape and workflow. Just leverage / orchestrate what you can see. Like stage props. For example with a few mouse clicks I can open any Subl Text file in any desktop app … sans packages or plugins. Although I do use some that are required. Exalt for one for XML compatibility (such as SVG et al). I can’t easily remember key combos so I use aliases instead to map to key bindings (much written on that recently - bewildering to me - see here Table of Key Bindings). I use a different, visual way of desktop binding I guess. Orchestration is the key word. Take a look at enabling (in partnership with Subl on same desktop stage) venerable tools such as Actiona (Actionscript days - needing Actionscript package) and then more comprehensive TagUI. Then become a “desktop playwright”, managing Actors, Acts, Scenes, Stage props. They are all found in Ubuntu. Subl is just one key Actor but easy on my elderly eyes as prime editor across different scopes. Hope that explains my odd visual thinking. Let me know what “dot file” is of interest. What process? Which OS?

[vwheeler63]

Hi, @marryjoseph8.

If you haven’t already tried it, I have recently been developing a lot of Python code with the LSP and LSP-pyright Packages, and am EXTREMELY impressed! Right-clicking the text, and selecting LSP > Goto Definition... feels a great deal like some of the best IDE’s I’ve ever used. As an example, as a test, I placed my cursor on the str type (in a typing hint) and did that, and it took me to buildins.pyi to the class str definition! Plus it is extremely agile in the type-hinting arena. In the package I am currently developing, it has already saved me (literally) dozens of bugs that never ran and generated a run-time exception (or presented any future danger) because LSP-pyright caught them first. This is a huge blessing in local code. Plus, after a year of extensively customizing my own environment, may tail is wagging about Sublime Text more than ever…

Kind regards,
Vic

P.S.

If you place pyrightconfig.json in your project with this content:

{
	"extraPaths": [
		"/path/to/app_code/Lib/python3.14.zip",
		"/path/to/app_code/Lib/python314",
	],
	//"typeCheckingMode": "strict",
	"executionEnvironments": [
		{
			"root": "./",
			"pythonVersion": "3.14",
		},
	],
	// Install LSP-json to get validation and autocompletion in this file.
	// "venvPath": "./myenv",
	// "venv": ".venv",
}

The LSP-pyright Package will ALSO do you proud with the Sublime API!!

[Frizlab]

I recently switched to Sublime. I was doing exclusively Apple-platform development for more than 20 years, so I was using Xcode, but now I’m doing a project where I have to do a bit of ts, so I had to find an editor for that.

Being in the Apple ecosystem completely, I tried BBEdit, but it did not convinced me, especially due to its poor LSP support.
I tried Zed because it’s the new hotness, but it “felt wrong.”
I tried Sublime and fell in love with it.

So much that I even “resurrected” an old plugin for Modelines, because I needed proper Modelines support in my project (not for ts, but for my IaC repo).

[akogch]

Over the years, I’ve tried most of the existing paid and free editors. My experience with Sublime has been the most influential. Over time, Sublime naturally became my main editor. And it remains so. I see no reason to switch from Sublime to anything else.

[jabbafett1988]

Hi! I really like Sublime Text 4, primarily because it is much simpler to use than UltraEdit, and not nearly as bloated. Moreover, Sublime Text will run on a variety of Linux distributions, whereas UltraEdit will only run comfortably on Ubuntu (what I’m using - Ubuntu 26.04 LTS), Debian 12 (Bookworm) and RHEL (Red Had Enterprise Linux). If you use (for example) Fedora 44, UltraEdit won’t run on it at all. Moreover, it’s been nearly two years since UltraEdit, Inc. updated UltraEdit for Linux, so that has motivated me to not renew my UltraEdit licence (subscription).

Subime may not have “eye candy” like UltraEdit, but it does get the job done. The only thing that I would love to see in it is the ability to align plain text centre and justify. This is a small complaint; I can easily use Vim or Emacs to do this, when I write READ.ME files for my programs.

[barth]

There’s a package called SFTP. You can set it to auto upload to (S)FTP server on save.

[ejeker]

Yes, I have been testing so many editors, but I always come back to Sublime. Zed was supposed to be fast, but on Windows it is as sluggish as VSCode. The new coding workflow: using a TUI (OpenCode) on one side of the screen, and Sublime/Sublime Merge on the other side, it’s perfect. Both have the Dracula theme installed, they look similar.

[Innovator]

Although I only understand part of the workings of Sublime Text (I only just learned about the regex button) those cogs I do use are absolutely vital for interaction with building a novel framework and leveraging AI. Even if I do pickup a few flags along the way as being … OT.

[tishihtzu]

subl is my go-to editor 80% of the time. I will use VSCode or Cursor when I need their plugins; however, that is rare as I have been using command-line tools mostly of late.

I rarely merge though-- I am a command line guy…

[vwheeler63]

Hi, @barth!

About that SFTP package, will it recursively upload a directory you select? That would be very handy to me…

Kind regards,
Vic

[vwheeler63]

Hi, @jabbafett1988!

If you can write code in Python, you can add a customization to center and justify based on the current “rulers” setting for the current View. Neither task is complicated.

Kind regards,
Vic

[yonic]

It’s been my main daily tool during my career since I started using it in 2008, and still I use it every day for most of the day. I’ve tried a lot of other editors, but I always come back to ST.

[Barabas]

Same! Though I may have started a few years later. The rest has too many features and just isn’t close to the responsiveness. I also really like the autocomplete that’s not tied up in the language syntax. It has it’s pro’s and con’s, but it’s fast, reliable and it saves me so much time once I get going!