Language-agnostic properly-tabbing code editors for Linux?

Question

I need a Linux text editor to replace Textpad 4.7.3 (a Windows nagware app), but all the alternatives I\'ve tried are either bloated or incomplete. Here are the features I find

Answer 1

Vim and emacs do not take full advantage of my screen, mouse, and keyboard.

Have you looked at gvim? I'm a console guy myself, but I'm pretty sure it's GUIlicious.

Answer 2

I would also suggest jEdit. It has many features and many plugins.

Wikipedia has a good comparison of text editors that may be of use as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_text_editors

Answer 3

Have you tried running Textpad in Linux with Wine?

Answer 4

I recommend Geany (version 0.15 now). It has all (or almost all) the features that you need. Look in the manual to find the keys (I used it for a year before discovering that it had block selection).

Answer 5

Komodo Edit by ActiveState has a linux version, and it does most of the things you describe. I've been using it 24/7 for well over a year now, and while I don't like it, I haven't found anything better on Linux. It's the reduced feature free version of their commercial product, and if it worked better I'd be tempted to buy their more-featured Komodo IDE.

It's not real stable, at least on my system. It crashes a lot or freezes, so save often if you try it.

I recently upgraded to version 5 from 4.2, and it was not an improvement. They broke a lot of things so I'm going to go back to 4.2. The main thing they broke which really makes me sad is the tabs for editing multiple files. In 4.2 they had the x to close in the right edge of the tab row, where its position never changed. In 5 it moved to the end of the active tab. Now you can't close multiple files without aiming the mouse for each one.

I used Eclipse before Komodo, and Komodo 4.2 is less bad than Eclipse was a year ago.

Really, this response isn't an endorsement of Komodo Edit. I'm really not happy with it, and I'm hoping you find a good editor with this question so I can switch too.

Answer 6

I certainly recommend PowerPad if for no other reason than that I wrote it.

Here are some of the wonderful features you will find in the Linux version:

• Multi-tab interface
• Powerful scripting language based on Python
• Unlimited undo
• Auto-indent
• Support for opening and editing files over FTP
• Ability to open UTF-8 and UTF-16 encoded files