Moonedit

Wednesday 2 February 2005 — This is nearly 20 years old. Be careful.

MoonEdit is a collaborative text editor: a number of people dispersed across the internet all work together editing a single text file, all at the same time. It’s a cross-platform implementation of an idea pioneered by SubEthaEdit on the Mac.

This is one of those things that makes me think two thoughts: First, “Cool!”, then, “What would I use it for?” Has anyone used these editors? SubEthaEdit has screenshots of code. MoonEdit shows IM sessions on crack. What do they really get used for?

Some discussion about the import of this is on CommunityWiki: MoonEdit.

Comments

Clint Laskowski 6:35 PM on 2 Feb 2005

Ned, I thought the same thing when I saw it (cool; how can I use it?). Here's an idea (since your site is so popular), how about hosting a Moonedit session to write some kind of collaborative document. Post a date and time when people can join (and something about what the document will be about), and let's see who joins in! -- Clint

Greg Wilson 7:42 PM on 2 Feb 2005

A few months ago, we discovered that students were using SubEthaEdit in lectures to take one collaborative set of notes. They claim it works well---nothing important is missed, and it helps bond the study group. I'd really like to try this in a requirements gathering session with a customer...

Aggelos I. Orfanakos 7:46 PM on 2 Feb 2005

I thought of the same, until I switched to X-Chat (IRC client) and saw the current conversation we had on #c, a channel devoted to C programming. And it immediately clicked on me that we could use it to help learners to code C. You don't have to say "write this". You write it, and the other party watches and corrects/responds.

Mark Eichin 6:34 AM on 3 Feb 2005

At Python conferences, it also seems popular to have a SubEthaEdit session for similar collaborative note-taking. EuroPython 2004 had a demo of SHPY, which was more of a "live python pad" that could take multiple connections, so you could use it the same way but toss in running code too. I don't know how far they've gotten since then...

Ned Batchelder 7:38 AM on 5 Feb 2005

I guess I end up in situations where shared attention on a document (or code) would be useful. I don't have a need for a public MoonEdit session, but if anyone else is starting one, let me know!

Kenny 4:49 PM on 15 Feb 2005

I downloaded it, and started using it in my office, but when I went back to see if there was an update, I noticed something about "This software is completely free for non-commercial use." and that I would have to ask to use it for a commercial project. Was that there when I first downloaded it, or did he add that? I saw a lot of hype about this program, and I'm pretty sure that that message was not there to begin with. I emailed him, and he told me that he would soon be releasing a pro version for commercial use.

Moonedit

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