After years of using computer I’ve noticed the best thing about software: It can be stable and useful even years after last update.
I personally use VLC as the best VideoPlayer I’ve ever known. Just because it works and most of the time it doesn’t need any update.
Like VLC that barely doesn’t need updates I think that SublimeText is nearly reaching or has already reached “VLC era” where it doesn’t need updates or barely need some updates.
All of these mature/maturing products might be reaching their horizontal expansion limits (plugins, packages etc) but there is in my view a need for vertical expansion … higher layers of UI automation. Navigating the many controls and keys for newcomers. That is the path I take. And it works well. Indeed I can instruct my AI Agent to drive complex UI.
I will keep using the latest available ST build even 10 years from now, with no updates.
It’s simply the best software I ever dealt with, both in terms of usability and design choices.
The real deal breaker for me was starting to write plugins for it - without that, you can’t really appreciate how good ST really is.
With that said, I’m also a bit frustrated about the prolonged stagnation in terms of new features.
There are some (just a couple, really, like https://github.com/sublimehq/sublime_text/issues/5543) that would push ST closer to perfection.
Studying “sticky scrolling” above, it seems to me that the origami package can serve that purpose. A sticky panel above main scrolling panel. I have it working now.
I would not replace it with any of the numerous alternatives I have encountered or that my colleagues here at the University are currently using. My progression has been Alpha (Mac only) → TextMate (id) → Sublime Text, adopting each from their initial release.
Even in the era of agentic coding, my requirements for IDE have shifted away from various plugins back to the core strengths of the editor itself: Sublime Text. I find it to be the perfect tool for reviewing and refining the code generated by agents like Claude Code.