EDIT: oops I'm getting downvoted, sorry for mentioning the platform. For the record, I think that JavaScript is the perfect choice of language for a terminal text editor. I can't think of a single better language and platform.
:|
What do we make of Requires node.js...? The sentiment doesn't reflect an opinion, an argument or anything that wasn't obvious from looking at the repo.
If there is any value in a terminal text editor at all, it's the ability to operate that editor remotely. Unless the machine has node.js on it already, this is just crufty.
salp's choice of dependencies for what it is, is really oddball. I don't think there's any getting away from it.
I will agree that just dropping a "Requires node.js..." is kind-of a cheap trick. The idea being that people will read what they want and assume that's what the grandparent meant. But just because it's cheap, doesn't mean it's meritless.
How can you take this for granted in this Vim world we live in?
It has no merit as a contribution to the discussion (except maybe in the sense that people actually replied to it). For all I care, he could have a very well-founded basis for his opinion, but the fact remains that we will never know that from the body of his comment.
As for your arguments, I mostly agree, but personally I use vim (as opposed to non-terminal equivalents like gvim or macvim) locally since a lot of the work I do happens in a terminal anyway. By using it in the terminal, I can completely avoid managing windows in OS X while I work and either just drop vim to the background or use tmux to do the command line work relatively seamlessly.
I suppose it should be possible to build a self contained executable, similarly with what node-webkit does.