Sublime Forum

ARM build?

#35

Keep in mind that if we find something that works with Arm and works equally well on the other platforms we use, then probably we will convert all our editors to that new editor.

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#36

Hi guys,

Just want to say one thing as why it’s so costly to develop for ARM. ARM isn’t really a single architecture. There are minor variations in instruction sets for different manufacturers. Which means a developer has to build separate binaries for each processor family and test seperately on each device. So you would need a separate binary for RPi, Chromebook, Beagleboard, etc…

This is why android apps are predominantly JAVA based. Running on a JVM means you don’t need to worry about underlying architecture/instruction set differences.

Even opensouce projects restrict official support for ARM devices because of this.

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#37

Intel isn’t really a single architecture either. You need to either compile for the lowest common denominator or detect cpu and other hardware features and enable or disable code accordingly.

Demand for arm is going up, not down, especially with these tablet/netbook combo deals out now. My interest for an arm version is primarily with Linux and single-board computers. I’m already a happy license owner for st2. You don’t have to work directly on the hardware, there’s an operating system under there that can handle some of this stuff for you. I don’t know of a Mac OS arm device with a keyboard, but Linux and Windows and Android are sure busy with that.

Get on odesk and see what’s out there for arm developers. I’m sure somebody is willing to sign an NDA, and some of those guys work pretty cheap. If I had the time I’d probably work on it for almost nothing, just to get an arm version out there.

The only way I can see this as overly complicated is if you write a lot of assembly code or bypass the operating system and try to access hardware directly. Frankly when you do either of those things, the app tends to be a single platform on a single operating system and never gets away from it, so I doubt you do that. Your existing ST2 code works well on Windows, Mac and Linux.

I’m not trying to be pushy here, but if your code were Open Source it would probably already work on most Arm versions, as well as ppc and some other bizarre stuff. I write commercial software for a living so I understand you have your license model and I respect it.

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#38

As far as that goes, if I had access to your source code there’s a bug in the way ST2 reads its .sublime-project that would be fixed by now, open source or not. It drives me nuts, I’ve posted here about it but it’s obviously not interesting enough for somebody there to do anything about it.

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#39

It’s not, but unlike ARM it’s mostly sane. You can test for instruction support, and most importantly, Intel doesn’t use the same machine code for different instructions
across different processor. This does happen with Intel vs AMD tho. Intel and AMD can’t match like for like when mapping machine code considering they’re both developing independently of each other. BUT, they do document these and compilers compile code that will work for both processing families.

When it comes to ARM, it’s a different kettle of fish. Due to the nature of ARM licensing, there are a huge number of different processor manufacturers out there that makes it nearly impossible to cover them all in the same fashion that you cover Intel and AMD differences, but, more importantly, many manufacturers DO NOT document their processors publicly, and instead opt to release a device specific compiler, making it impossible to do what you suggest.

This is exactly why Windows Phone support is restricted to a handful of processor, why Apple manufacture their own ARM CPUs and why android apps run on a VM.

Coding isn’t the issue here, it’s compiling and testing.

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#40

You’re an official support person? If so you can look at my email and contact me privately.

I don’t mean to roast you guys publicly, but there must be something we can do to get an arm build. Maybe we can brainstorm in a more private setting.

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#41

OK so for the record, there has been no contact to my email.

If things are so haphazard for arm, then it’s amazing anybody developed a product for it.

GCC is installed on my rpi in raspbian automatically, it works, and it’s reputed to generate pretty good code, at least for bigger processors. I would be amazed if it didn’t exist on EVERY other Linux-based arm OS.

Based on that, not knowing anything about sublime’s code because I haven’t seen it, I’m guessing that if sublime was written in C or in any of the languages typically supported by gcc, then the “wildly different architectures” argument holds little or no water. You (sublime) could just use the libraries which come along with Linux to support the Linux platform. If you don’t use gcc or open source libraries in your code for other platforms, then you need some sort of middleware, a thin facade that converts the library your sublime app expects into what open source libraries provide. I know exactly what that involves because I do it. Also, that guarantees that your closed-source code is protected from any toxic open source license, because you already have a non-open source library you’re using and you’re linking dynamically.

So how’s this for an idea?

  1. Build your closed-source product for a few specific arm processors, possibly using gcc if nothing else is available.

  2. Open-source the middleware library

  3. Let individual groups modify your middleware for specific platforms.

One thing that Open Source groups are really good at is porting something to a new platform. Sublime is about the best gui-based text editor out there, especially if you need a light one that’s tuned to your specific needs. It’s what arm-based nano-boxes need.

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#42

Another point: You could include tests in the middleware, such that people know when the middleware is sufficiently working to try the main editor.

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#43

Just to let you know, the sole developer of Sublime Text, Jon, goes by the username “jps” on the forum.

I would be very surprised if ARM is on his roadmap at all.

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#44

I asked somewhere possibly a year ago - and now I registered just to post this question here :

Is anybody aware of any effort towards creating an ARM hard float version of sublime ?
I am willing to help, I can provide access to a clean ARM HF - fedora 20 or ubuntu 12 - 14 - 4 core box if devs here are interested.
Otherwise I have to choose different editor / limetext or something probably.
Thanks a lot for your time.

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#45

Not having an ARM version is embarrassing for this “high end” editor.
At least such mainstream devices like RPi should be supported as they are mainly focused on development.

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#46

RPb is “DYI” machine, you are blaming name of it’s creator if you want to install propiertary stuff inside :smile: Compile :smile:

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#47

*** +1 for an ARM build of ST3. Come on, just compile, what’s the big deal?** As long as it semi works. Just release it as a “mostly unsupported” version if you need to. Something is better than nothing.

*** Compiling stuff on linux is not hard**
I’ve just started running debian with XFCE on my Sansumg Galaxy N8000 tablet that has a ARMv7 CPU (Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9)
I just had to compile node.js from source on it. Wasn’t hard to sort out the build issues.

*** You are pushing users away**
Now ST users have to try other code editors. We might find a new code editor that we like more than ST (likely open source) then stop using ST on the desktop/laptop.

*** Think of the children and millions of people in the lower economic sectors**
Raspberry Pi has exploded in popularity, and ARM’s popularity is only going to continue to grow.

Think of the hundreds of thousands (probably millions) of Android users using Linux on their phones and tablets
More and more people are starting to run linux on their Android devices (native or chroot’ed). Just a single version of Debian in the playstore has over 100,000 downloads.

*** Think about it, really, its a no brainer.**

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#48

Who actually develops code for the RPi on the RPi itself? Last I checked, most people hook up their RPi to a bigger box and do all the code development there.

Also, can you name one other “high-end editor” that has an ARM build? Vi/Vim and Emacs don’t count as they are open source and have been ported to everything under the sun already. Let’s talk about other ones, like, say, SlickEdit (which I think is a more apt comparison).

Going back to phones and tablets, how many people do large amounts of serious code editing on phones or tablets? Those things are just so awkward to use, between no physical keyboard and tiny screen size, that I can’t imagine doing any significant code editing on one.

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#49

Have you seen this? It’s a change.org petition. It’s probably a good thing, it will be easier for people who aren’t registered on the forum to vote.

change.org/p/sublime-text-c … -3-for-arm

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#50

I was hoping for a ARM version for ultra-small devices, too :-S
But I do honor jps post and opinion.

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#51

+1 for ARM Raspberry Pi build. Would be awesome!

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#52

Wow it’s been years since this thread started. Are we any closer?
I’d perhaps even like a slightly cut-down version so it runs lovely and quick.

Does anyone know of anything similar that would run on a raspberry pi, to keep us going in the mean time ?

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#53

Bluefish works on ARM devices. It’s open source as well. It looks pretty good

Since Sublime haven’t bothered to make a low priority support version of sublime compiled for ARM. (LOL how hard could it really be… just compile, it’s not like it’s a hypervisor or anything)
For so long… I’m not waiting anymore. The world is moving towards ARM devices.

Bluefish site bluefish.openoffice.nl/index.html

Features bluefish.openoffice.nl/features.html

How to install bfwiki.tellefsen.net/index.php/I … g_Bluefish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cLyj14q850)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWaR9d3W2hw)

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#54

Am I allowed to bump this thread Raspberry Pi 2 is out now with the beautiful arm cortex a7 and sublime would be just sublime!

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