Here’s another real world comparison, although they are often problematic when you take those comparisons too seriously or you did not think it through properly. They always do have their problems when it comes to details, of course.
As I’ve stated already in Emacs is Not Just An Editor, I don’t think that those editor wars do serve any useful purpose. I’m using both, vim and Emacs, for decades on a daily basis.
(Please note that I’m using "vim" as a term for the whole family of editors: vi, vim, neovim, ...)
I got the impression that most users of vim do not have the full picture when they complain about alleged downsides of the Emacs platform. And not every argument is meant in a jokingly fashion.
The earliest point in time where I myself was able to grasp the fundamental difference of Emacs to basically any other software, not just vim as a text editor, was only a couple years(!) before I started to embrace it. Some people will be faster in understanding all the impact, I’m sure. Unfortunately, from my experience most users of vim never got near that point in time.
Therefore, I think that comparisons from real world scenarios may be able to help to bridge this gap a bit. Let’s try this one using a bicycle metaphor.
Bikes
So when it comes to bicycles, vim is like a folding bike:
- small
- versatile when it comes to size/storage
- quick
- agile
Emacs, on the other hand, can be seen as a cargo bike:
- heavier
- typically of larger size
- versatile when it comes to transport of goods and multiple people
A cargo bike also gets you from A to B by pedaling but it is so much more than just a bike. If you want, you can carry kids, goods, plants, all sorts of equipment. Some people even use it as a platform to build, e.g., a mobile café shop.
One of the surprising things is how you’ll find much more use of it when you actually have one over a longer period of time.
A folding bike - as cool as it is - will always be just a folding bike with its particular but limited focus.
A cargo bike has so much more potential to realize your ideas than a normal bike.
Thesis, Antithesis and Synthesis
If you’re specifically looking for a small, versatile bike, you’ll never choose a cargo bike and you should refrain from telling people how bad a cargo bike is for folding. That’s quite an obvious statement. If you’re looking for a folding bike, a cargo bike is most probably a bad idea, yes.
However, a cargo bike serves as a replacement for a normal bike in the similar way as a folding bike does.