Rustpad is an efficient and minimal open-source collaborative text editor | Hacker News Reader

Rustpad is an efficient and minimal open-source collaborative text editor

github.com

110 pointsindigodaddy17 comments

The core library is A library for Operational Transformation

Operational transformation (OT) is a technology for supporting a range of collaboration functionalities in advanced collaborative software systems.

https://github.com/spebern/operational-transform-rs

These days CRDTs get all the hype, but OT remains a solid choice in a lot of cases. :)

You can combine the best of both too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjbEG7COj7o

Would be nice if there was some solution to actually run code, so it can be used to pair up and teach or test people. The UI could also benefit from some streamlining (that sidebar takes up a lot of space for info you don't need to see all the time). Also if there's any possibility to share a directory of files to simultaneously work on from one of the user's (or the server's) system. That'd make this a pretty good product in itself.

It's sounds like you're looking for a collaborative IDE?

You can find that functionality in VS Code, Jetbrains Fleet (and their other full-fat IDEs), Zed Editor, etc.

A product named after a tool used in its creation is a red flag, to me, that focus isn’t on delivering value to the user.

What a nonsensical and unwarranted criticism. It’s completely free and open-source, yet somehow their choice of name discredits their gift and gives you justification to judge their motivations?

I don't think it's a red flag, but I do think it's odd. Why should the user care what language it's implemented in? (For libraries and such, such a naming convention makes sense, of course).

I am having a hard time seeing how this can be useful outside of remote code interviews.

Am I supposed to paste the code from IDE while collaborating?

I think this needs a vscode plugin, so I can share my code directly from vscode while other users just need a browser.

I've seen Etherpad used in remote meetings for secretary purposes.

But sure, it could be used together to whip up prototype code and discuss about it at the same time, even without needing the all of an IDE.

Etherpad is awesome, we use it all the time.

I find this tool perfect for sharing and/or working on little/one-off code snippets together! Super easy to standup just docker and put caddy in front.

Does this have LSP support?

LSP is crucial for my own user tastes but I'd guess it doesn't fit many definitions of a "minimal" editor feature.

> Rust > React I give up

Why? It is a very practical choice.

Rust for the backend, React for the frontend, what's the problem?

Maybe Rust is too new for some people. But isn’t React well-established by now? Or is it the alliteration that’s too much? ;)

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