So after many years and years of little development TextMate is on Github (Github}. The real question is, will this be something great for TextMate or is it a death knell?

My vote is a death knell. TexMate 1 was awesome when it came out, but that was a long time ago. I was right on board with it. It did what I wanted it to do and did it well. The cost of the purchase was easy to justify for a tool that made my job so much easier.

Then came the many many many years of barely there updates and vague promises of a version 2 coming around, at some point. We first heard about TexMate 2 in June 2009. We were informed that progress was steady and don’t worry about the future of TextMate.

Then we were let down when it took till December 2011 to get a TextMate 2 Alpha. I dutifully returned to TextMate from Vim like some sort of puppy that keeps returning to it’s master despite the abuse it receives.

The bright side to this return was that I realize TextMate 2 wasn’t all that shiny. Not only did Vim (or MacVim) now have my love, other editors and IDE’s were much better (Sublime Text 2, and PHPStorm for me). I realized that I didn’t need to take the abuse and neglect that TextMate was dishing out, and I haven’t looked back.

When I talk to the programmers that got me to use TextMate in the first place, no one uses it now. They too felt the abuse and moved on to things like Vim, Sublime Text, RubyMine, and PHPStorm. When I ask around I hear about a friend of a friend using TextMate, you know like how a friend of a friend saw Big Foot or spent the night with a movie star.

I have no doubt that the announcement for TextMate 2 going open source will give it a boost in users for a bit. I think this boost will be short and people will realize that TextMate just doesn’t love them.

I think that putting TextMate on Github and giving it a GPL license is a last attempt of a dying product trying to get us to love it.

Sorry TextMate, too little to late. You’ve neglected me for so many years and I’m better than that. I deserve more, and you’ve lost your chance.