Today I found Geany . . . and my search for the perfect Linux text-editor finally ended. If you’re already a VIM or Emacs ninja then you may want to stop reading now, if however you come from a Windows background (like me) or you like the niceties a true GUI tool can offer, then Geany may be everything you’ve been looking for.

I use Python, so whitespace management is *very* important to me, for this I need some key functionality:

• Whitespace display
• Correct tab/space handling

On Windows my editor of choice was Notepad++, it did all of above superbly. When I moved to Linux most of my development-related tasks became much easier, however I sorely missed some of the key editing  features that I had become used to (as a side note – I also miss the GUI repo browsing offered by the TortoiseHG).

Why I love Geany

It’s fast, lightweight and has some killer features . . .

1. Whitespace

Geany shows whitespace clearly.  It handles tabs and spaces properly without interchanging the two. These features make all Python indentation issues just drift away.

2. Folding

It’s great to be able to collapse all the classes and functions that you’re not working on to save some screen real-estate (not to mention the scrolling up/down).

3. Class/Function browser

This sealed the deal. The browser on the left pane lists all the classes, functions, variables and imports found in the open file. This makes navigation very quick, and is a boon for working your way around an unfamiliar piece of code.

3. Other great stuff

And there’s more: Built-in file browser, shell, scratchpad, and support for 3rd-party plugins are just some of the other great features that Geany has to offer. As a bonus, Geany can also run on Windows too.

So Geany it is, and I’m finally happy. Here are some of the other editors I tried (and why they didn’t quite fit the bill for me).

Gedit
The default editor in Ubuntu is actually a really nice little tool and does 99% of what I need, but something I cannot live without is whitespace display. None of the available Gedit plugins seem to offer this..

VIM
Immensely powerful, but has a learning curve that right now I’m just to busy for.

Emacs
See VIM.

Wing IDE
I had high hope for Wing, but it let me down massively when it started to mix up tabs and spaces within the same indented sections.

Eclipse
I really don’t want to wait 10mins for Eclipse to load every day. It’s far too big for my needs.

I’ve recently been helping some friends ditch Internet Explorer and move to Firefox for their web-browsing. In the past this hasn’t always been an easy sell, especially to non-techies who just want to get their job done and have little interest in installing new toys to play with. Let’s face it, most people don’t have the time to understand security and compatibility issues, they just want to visit their favourite websites. I’m now finding that just a few simple ‘add-ons’ form the silver bullet. The range of Firefox add-ons available is incredible, they extend out-of-the-box functionality to enable extra features, and there are a few killer add-ons that once you have used you’ll never be able to go back to IE.

Here is my list of ‘must-have’ add-ons that close a Firefox ’sale’ every time:

Dictionary

Does your webmail, forum, Facebook page, or blog have a spellchecker? No? Most of them don’t, and we’ve become far too dependent on those wiggly red underlines that help us right-click away our fat-fingered mistakes. This add-on automatically brings in-line spellchecking to every text entry block on the web. Simple, effective and fantastic.

Must-have-rating: 5/5

Bookmark with del.icio.us

This has completely changed the way I use bookmarks, helped me keep track of far more sites than I ever could before, and massively improved my productivity. Most of all this add-on guarantees I always have an up to date bookmark list in my browser no matter which PC I am using (laptop, desktop, work, etc.). It enables searching, tagging and sharing too.

Must-have-rating: 5/5

You will need a del.icio.us account, don’t worry it only takes 30 seconds to sign up.

Tabs Open Relative

A long name for a small add-on. This is essential for those currently using IE7. It forces new tabs to open next to the current tab, mimicking IE7’s new tab behaviour. A great help for keeping tabs the ‘relative’ to each other. Simple and effective.

Must-have-rating: 5/5

Capture web pages with FireShot

Have you ever wanted to save or capture a web page? Need to include a web page in a document, or to archive a page for posterity? The ‘Save page as …’ function often fails and <ALT>+<PRTSCR> is useless when half the page is off-screen.

Step in Snapshot – one click image capture for the web page you are viewing, either the viewable portion or the entire page (no scrolling required). Edit and annotate if required and save to a file, clipboard or email.

Must-have-rating: 4/5

(Picnik does something very similar. It’s impressively gorgeous in true Web 2.0 style with all the AJAX pop-ups, rounded-corners and pastel colour fabness you could ever wish for. Sadly there are a couple of sites that it hasn’t worked on, and it does take a bit longer to process the image, however for pure eye-candy it’s unbeatable)

Better Gmail / Better Gmail2

One for the Gmail (or should that be GoogleMail) crowd. A neat add-on that adds just enough useful additions to the Gmail interface without overdoing it. It also works with Google Apps for your domain. My favourite options are:

• Attachment Icons (shows attachment icons for word, pdf, excel, etc.)
• Coloured labels (makes labels stand-out alongside message text for easy identification)

Must-have-rating: 4/5

IE Tab

Some sites don’t work with Firefox, and some probably never will. Microsoft’s Windows Update for one. This add-on allows you to open a web site using IE in a separate Firefox tab. The addition of this right-click option saves the effort of copying and pasting URLs into IE, and it keeps all your browsing in one place. Nice and simple, gets the job done.

Must-have-rating: 3/5

These are the ‘essential’ Firefox add-ons. Unlike most on ‘top 20′ or ‘top 50′ lists all of these will add real value and increase your productivity and efficiency. So what are you waiting for? Get Firefox!, Get add-ons! and Get productive! I’ve added some step-by-step instructions to get you started below:

Get Firefox: step-by-step

1. Download and install Firefox by clicking on the orange banner above (or here)
2. Install add-ons by clicking the add-on section titles in my blog post above
3. Browse with efficiency and be more productive

Job done!

Go to Tools/Add-ons/Get Extensions to find more great add-ons, there are loads to choose from.