# What are the best Rails editors on linux? **URL:** \ **Category:** Rails\ **Created:** [February 1, 2007, 6:28am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-are-the-best-rails-editors-on-linux/84077 "2007-02-01T06:28:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 6:28am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-are-the-best-rails-editors-on-linux/84077/1 "2007-02-01T06:28:40Z")
Hello, I usually use a Mac for Rails development, but may need to use Linux for a job. I still love the vi keymappings, but would like something that allows me to manage projects and files - i.e. similar level to Textmate. What have people been having success with? I would prefer not to use Eclipse or emacs variants. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 1:26pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-are-the-best-rails-editors-on-linux/84077/2 "2007-02-01T13:26:14Z")
> I usually use a Mac for Rails development, but may need to use Linux > for a job. Me too. Good choice! > I still love the vi keymappings, but would like something > that allows me to manage projects and files - i.e. similar level to > Textmate. What have people been having success with? How about trying the various buffer/file explorer plugins that are available for Vim? I tried a few and the one I really like is bufexplorer: [http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script\_id=42](http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=42) It doesn’t provide a graphical view like TextMate’s project drawer (or whatever it’s called), but it is quick to pull up and gets out of your way when you don’t need it. > I would prefer not to use Eclipse or emacs variants. I couldn’t possibly comment 🙂 Regards, Andy S. ---
**Author:** ![dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:13pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-are-the-best-rails-editors-on-linux/84077/3 "2007-02-01T15:13:26Z")
Hi, If you are running some gui then check out JEdit (http:// [www.jedit.org](http://www.jedit.org)). It is fast and have at ton of plugins that should help you. Regards, Rasmus ---
**Author:** ![dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-are-the-best-rails-editors-on-linux/84077/4 "2007-02-01T15:34:28Z")
On Feb 1, 12:28 am, “Dan” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > I usually use a Mac for Rails development, but may need to use Linux > for a job. I still love the vi keymappings, but would like something > that allows me to manage projects and files - i.e. similar level to > Textmate. What have people been having success with? Komode IDE is great! It supports vi keymappings, manages projects and files, understands RHTML (correctly colors the ruby inside the HTML), It also has method autocompletion and calltips. Even better, it has debugging tools specifically for Ruby on Rails, and you can even access irb within a debugging session to poke around at the state of your app. You can also debug a remote app (way cool, but I haven’t tried this feature yet). You didn’t say if you were restricting your choice to free editors, but if so, try the free Komodo Edit ([http://www.activestate.com/](http://www.activestate.com/) products/komodo\_edit/features.plex) which retains the vi keymappings and project/file management. I like the three-pane view where you have your rails project, your open file tabs, and the embedded browser running your app. Everytime you save your changes the browser reloads to reflect your changes. I don’t understand why Komodo isn’t discussed much here, as it is definitely my preferred platform for Ruby development, and I’ve tried just about all the linux options. I’d try TextMate on OSX given the chance to work on OSX, but honestly I think I’d prefer the OSX version of Komodo. ---
**Author:** ![dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:26pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-are-the-best-rails-editors-on-linux/84077/5 "2007-02-01T15:26:00Z")
Dan wrote: > I usually use a Mac for Rails development, but may need to use Linux > for a job. I still love the vi keymappings, but would like something > that allows me to manage projects and files - i.e. similar level to > Textmate. What have people been having success with? > > I would prefer not to use Eclipse or emacs variants. I can certainly understand not wanting Eclipse’s overhead, but if you’ve got the RAM and CPU, Eclipse with RadRails has a lot going for it: you get the project explorer with SVN or CVS integration, which includes nice built-in diff tools, and as of the current version, RadRails has most of the TextMate snippets working. If you throw in the Aptana plugin and associate it with .css and .js, you get nice outline views for that stuff, too. ---
**Author:** ![dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 4:07pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-are-the-best-rails-editors-on-linux/84077/6 "2007-02-01T16:07:31Z")
On Thu, Feb 01, 2007 at 05:28:15AM -0000, Dan wrote: > I usually use a Mac for Rails development, but may need to use Linux > for a job. I still love the vi keymappings, but would like something > that allows me to manage projects and files - i.e. similar level to > Textmate. What have people been having success with? I don’t use it (I’m happy with xterms and gvim with my own customizations, which I happen to use on a Mac but could just as easily use on Windows or Linux), but VimMate looks like it might suit you. See [http://vimmate.rubyforge.org/](http://vimmate.rubyforge.org/) > I would prefer not to use Eclipse or emacs variants. > Thanks. > –Greg ---
**Author:** ![dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-are-the-best-rails-editors-on-linux/84077/7 "2007-02-01T17:05:36Z")
A co-worker can recommend Kate on KDE ([http://kate-editor.org/](http://kate-editor.org/)) Looks very nice, lightweight, and complete. But I’ll stick to Textmate on the Mac for now. ---
**Author:** ![dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-are-the-best-rails-editors-on-linux/84077/8 "2007-02-01T18:27:14Z")
Steve K. wrote: > Dan wrote: > > > I would prefer not to use Eclipse or emacs variants. > > I can certainly understand not wanting Eclipse’s overhead, but if you’ve > got the RAM and CPU, Eclipse with RadRails has a lot going for it: EasyEclipse is worth a look: > **[EasyEclipse](http://www.easyeclipse.org/site/home/)** > > EasyEclipse is an open source Eclipse distribution. Bundled solution that provides Eclipse with the add-ons (e.g. the RadRails plug-in) best suited to Rails. ---
**Author:** ![dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dan](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/dan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/what-are-the-best-rails-editors-on-linux/84077/9 "2007-02-01T16:16:32Z")
this is quite an amazing rails addon for Vim: [http://rails.vim.tpope.net/](http://rails.vim.tpope.net/) allows you to jump around your project with quick keys, auto-completion, etc. There’s a demo video link on the site. ed