He mentions using (1) vi or emacs instead of (2) Textmate or notepad. I wasn't aware that one could use (2) in place of (1). How is that done? Does one need to SFTP a text file from the server to a client GUI OS, modify it, and then SFTP it back?
However, editing live is bloody idiotic. Use git locally and live-deploy based on tags/branches.
Though I still recommend using something like git, because at some point you will do something stupid and you probably won't find that backup :(
Cyberduck + Textmate is a joy.