> 5 or 6 other signs that make me want to migrate away from Emacs.
Sure, Emacs is not without deficiencies. But what are the alternatives? Name one option that can do things in the way that Emacs allows you to? Don't say 'Vim' - as a die-hard vimmer who uses both daily, I can confidently tell you - it may take decades until Vim becomes sufficiently good to replace Emacs for me. And if you say 'VSCode', I'd simply laugh coughing up org-mode structured headings.
sure, if you're looking for something that can perfectly replicate what Emacs does, then you'll never find an alternative... Every alternative has obvious shortcomings, at least on first glance, that you have to get used to.
I have never used Emacs (other than briefly starting it up in the 90s, waiting 5 minutes for it to load on my old 386, just to be completely overwhelmed and closing it again) but I have used other tools that I replaced (sometimes multiple times) over the years. And it has never been "smooth". The first few days are full of compromises until you get into a mode of working "with" the new software instead of "against" it. Then it usually begins to make sense and after a week or two you've in business
Okay, but you know what? During my career as a software developer, I have wasted over a decade "getting used to" things being shitty, passively accepting mediocrity and suboptimal solutions.
Learning Emacs (and Vim too) finally made me realize that I was doing things wrong - I needed to be in charge. As a computer programmer, I should be commanding software, not being constrained by it.
Emacs has granted me that power by acting like glue. I don't turn away from useful software; I do use it. I just do it through Emacs, not instead. With Emacs, I make my own rules and I dictate what makes sense.
Most recent practical example? I just joined a team that uses Jira. Lots of people hate Jira (and for good reasons), in my case, I have no choice. So, instead of complaining how cumbersome and stupid Jira is, I decided to use it from Emacs. But instead of wasting time building a "native" extension, I just delegated things to go-jira - a command line client. Now, I can basically type 'FOO-31415' and Emacs automatically, contextually recognizes it as the 'jira ticket number', despite it being plain text. From that point I can retrieve its summary, turn it into a markdown link, browse the ticket, change its fields and status, etc. While anyone else have to waste their time opening Jira in the browser, I can perfectly do things without losing my focus, directly from my editor. That's working "with" software instead of letting software to fight "against" you.
Been using Emacs for 15 years, and I think you've perfectly captured the spirit of what makes Emacs so compelling in spite of the crazy time investment needed to make it your own. I have never used another piece of software that not only allows you to customize it so deeply but makes you feel like you're the one in control.
Hyping vaporware is not software development.
Judging by your profile comments, it looks like you have little clue what any of these words mean, especially the last one, which could be due to your emotionally underdeveloped brain. Before you start spitting your snacks at the screen in rage, let me explain - comments like yours often suggest someone experiencing difficulties with emotional regulation, empathy, and interpersonal relationships. I don't know the source of your irrational anger, but you may want to find someone to talk about it. Modern therapy can drastically change people's lives for the better.