As other comments note, TRAMP is the way to go for remote work. I’m able to do everything on a remote / AWS / GCP box that I would do locally. If you’re into Deep Learning / data science you can also run Jupyter Notebooks in EIN with, say, a GCP Vertex / AI platform backend (though EIN isn’t 100% reliable for every production use case).

emacs is most certainly an acquired taste but, like most acquired tastes, is cherished by those who persist and come to love its flexibility, extensibility and power.

I’m one of those people.

No matter what else I try — and I still really enjoy using VSC as a backup — nothing else comes close to my particular set of workflows (mainly data science / deep learning / AI research across Python, C++, R, TeX). Throw in the power of org, beamer, pdf tools, journaling, email, rss, web browsing — you name it — all in one place…I really never need to leave it.

Persist with it. It’s worth the payoff.