UEX - UltraEdit Linux Text Editor

IDM Computer
Solutions, Inc.

UEX - UltraEdit Linux Text Editor - Development Update
Co-Written by Ian D. Mead and Richard Knott

May 7 2009 update: Please see our latest update on UEX.

Last month we unveiled our Linux text editor - UEX - and our plans for its upcoming commercial release. Thank you to all who have shown so much interest and support. We share the same excitement you have shown for using UltraEdit as your favorite Linux text editor, and we are very enthusiastic about introducing UltraEdit to the Linux and Mac communities.

Many questions have been tabled and we want to take a few moments to officially address some of the bigger ones.

1. When will the official beta start?

As a quick review, UEX is now in Alpha testing. We have the initial distribution aligned for Ubuntu users and are integrating the DRM (Digital Rights Management). We are just weeks from making UEX available to an initial group of Ubuntu users. Like any IDM Beta, we expand the audience as we progress through the testing cycle. Initially we will send a late Alpha/early Beta to a small group, we will then progressivly increase the availability of the beta to larger numbers as we go through the beta cycle. We will later replace the Beta builds with Release Candidates.

This process can take as few as 4 weeks or as long as 8 weeks. This is an opportunity for us to underscore our commitment to quality and performance as the commercial release is driven by quality rather than time.

We want to thank the hundreds of you who have signed up to our UEX beta group, we sincerely appreciate this gesture. We want to extend that invitation again to anyone who is specifically using Ubuntu as their (Linux) OS. A tarball will be provided for those of you not utilizing Ubuntu, but the early test groups will primarily focus specifically on our Ubuntu distribution.

2. Will UEX support Mac?

Absolutely Yes! Those that are using a Mac laptop/desktop can indeed look forward to using their favorite text editor soon on OS X. We are developing a parallel distribution for Mac users but we will stage this behind the Ubuntu release so we can drive the Mac release with the same focus on quality as in the Linux release. In terms of timeline, we are tentatively planning for the Mac release to trail the Ubuntu release by about 4-6 weeks.

3. What licensing consideration is available for those already using UltraEdit?

Today, for those that migrate from UltraEdit to UEStudio, we provide a significant license credit in appreciation of their customer loyalty and for trusting IDM and their solution provider. That same philosophy will be true for those seeking a UEX license. UEX will be made available to existing UltraEdit/UEStudio users at a discounted price.

4. What will be the licensing model? Will you support Unlimited Upgrade licensing?

Great questions. Today we offer standard (non-concurrent), concurrent, enterprise, site, and plant licensing. This same structure will likely be available for UEX so volume licenses will benefit from tier discounts as well as maintenance programs.

As with all IDM products, once registered, the first year of upgrades are complimentary and future upgrades are based upon 50% of the retail cost of the product.

For those seeking our popular Unlimited Lifetime Upgrades License for UEX, that too will be able for purchase.

For the sake of being complete, we would like to offer some development doctrine. One user recently sent us a great comment that basically puts our development model in perspective:

This is true for UltraEdit as it is true for the rest of our products - including UEX. We did not trade UltraEdit development resources for UEX. Rather, we expanded our in-house engineering staff so we could not only deliver on the expectations of UEX to the Linux/Mac community, but also deliver on the value of ongoing development and complimentary upgrades.

The model which we are following is more powerful than originally thought. As we bring performance and feature enhancements into UltraEdit, these are then ported over to UEX and released in parallel or slightly delayed if needed. So those purchasing UEX will get the same benefit of ongoing development and real-time solutions to the ever changing computing challenges we all face.

5. The last question that we would like to address is actually a question for you to answer.

As you are aware, our initial distribution will target Ubuntu. What distribution should we target next? Please let us know what you are using, it will help us taget the appropriate distributions.

Thank you again for your interest in UEX and trusting IDM as your solution provider. Our special thanks to those participating in Alpha testing. For those of you who have not signed up for the beta, please email us at support@idmcomp.com and we will get you added to the groups right away.

Click here to see the latest published content on UEX!

Best wishes,

Ian and team.

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Guest post

UltraEdit for Mac OS X
Reply #1 on : Mon April 06, 2009, 14:37:34

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Another UEX tease... can't wait for the OS X version !! I'd love to be a beta tester.

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"Universal" license?
Reply #2 on : Tue April 07, 2009, 08:26:33

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Sometimes I work on Windows, sometimes on OS X. Will there be some sort of "universal" license, so I can move between Windows and OS X environments on my Mac using the same UE license key? Or will I have to purchase two copies of UE?

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Gentoo
Reply #3 on : Tue April 07, 2009, 12:34:44

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Gentoo/Funtoo is my answer

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UEX /distros
Reply #4 on : Tue April 07, 2009, 13:39:19

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I'm more likely to use Debian - which shouldn't be much of a stretch from Ubuntu, but otherwise Fedora would be likely.
What about BSD's?

Yes - I'm waiting for a lifetime upgrade on this as well.
[it's neither square nor round]

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UEX /distros
Reply #5 on : Tue April 07, 2009, 14:58:37

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I'm more likely to use Debian - which shouldn't be much of a stretch from Ubuntu, but otherwise Fedora would be likely.
What about BSD's?

Yes - I'm waiting for a lifetime upgrade on this as well.
[it's neither square nor round]

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Debian
Reply #6 on : Tue April 07, 2009, 16:33:00

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My PC is running Ubuntu and my EeePC is running Debian 5. So I would vote for Debian as the next supported distribution. ;)

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Open Suse
Reply #7 on : Tue April 07, 2009, 16:58:27

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Open Suse please!

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UEX /distros
Reply #8 on : Tue April 07, 2009, 17:34:56

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I do contract programming. The compancies I deal with usually use OpenSuse/SLED or Fedora Linux. So supporting those platforms would be nice.

Actually that raises another question. My laptop is multiple-boot between different Linux versions. Would I need separate licenses for UEX in each Linux on the laptop?

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Platform
Reply #9 on : Wed April 08, 2009, 01:13:08

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uex may have a debian version

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Linux
Reply #10 on : Wed April 08, 2009, 09:50:13

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I was fussing, (and others I'm sure) at Ian years ago about him being the only reason I was still using M$ on my machines. My current linuxs are Ubuntu and Knoppix. Love the 64gb bootable knoppix thumbdrive. If it works like the current version,,, it's format time on the laptop

As long as tarballs are available, keep the focus on the hi volumn distro's. We (he) needs the large community support to keep going. I think most of us can get it running on our favorite version,,, after all, it's how we got here, right? A good user base blog and presto.

Universal license: It'd be nice if something like a multipac was available that supported all of the versions at once, even if the license key's were different. If they go to one of the chatty network license packages I'll not be happy. Maybe we're different here, but we work hard at making sure our licenses are paid up and accurate for all of our products. Having to deal with the PIB network aware license package of Smarterm has been a complete nightmare for our support group, and I'm moving away from that product because of their licensing process. (not a big user,,, but about 40 users with maintenance heading to another product). It does not seem to make any real difference, but all I can do is vote with the dollars I have control of.

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UEX for Linux
Reply #11 on : Wed April 08, 2009, 10:04:41

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I have used Ultraedit for years, even buying it myself when my corporate masters would not. I am excited about it coming to Linux, where I have found nothing that I like as much as Ultraedit. Please port it to Fedora. I use Fedora a lot and would love access to ultraedit.

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I 2nd the Universal License & Beta Tester...
Reply #12 on : Wed April 08, 2009, 10:16:57

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I too work on both platforms (actually all three Linux, PC & Mac)... but mostly on PC & Mac moving files to Linux Servers. I used to keep my PC Version of Ultra Edit up to date, but once it reached V10, I found that I really didn't need all the extras being added into V11 and subsequent release so I have a really old version of UE/PC - but it does everything I want it to.

Anyway... I would LOVE to participate in the Beta Testing on OSX. I currently use BBedit but might just switch to UE/X if it performs as expected (i.e. like it's PC counterpart).

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Debian
Reply #13 on : Wed April 08, 2009, 12:28:11

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And I would welcome an "universal licence" too!

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Linux version to support
Reply #14 on : Wed April 08, 2009, 13:08:44

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In the interest of penetrating the business desktop, especially those in a mixed Netware/Windows environment (yes, we still exist), I highly recommend support for OpenSuse/Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop.

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What to release first...
Reply #15 on : Wed April 08, 2009, 13:13:08

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Well, to me that's a no-brainer, Mac OS X of course !
Mac OS X has 9.77% of the market, rapidly approaching 10%
Linux has 0.90% and then we are talking *all* distributions, together...

The other thing i would like to comment on is the UI, pls make darn sure to make good use of Cocoa, no measly X-half-measures please !

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"Universal" license #2
Reply #16 on : Wed April 08, 2009, 14:03:46

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Beside Windows, Linux, Mac versions, sometimes I would like to take U* with me (U3). I would also like to avoid spending my time comparing editions (i.e. now, I don't know whether UE Studio r.9 includes UE r.15?). Perhaps you can create licensing scheme with some entry fee (let's say 100$) and then some yearly fee (say 20$) allowing me to use ALL your latest products?

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Fedora
Reply #17 on : Thu April 09, 2009, 08:12:16

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A distribution for Fedora/RHEL/CentOS please!

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UEX and various distributions
Reply #18 on : Thu April 09, 2009, 08:22:19

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First of all, thanks to all of the Ultraedit team for making what is probably one of the best text editors around, bar none!

As for the Linux Distribution question - would it be too hard to consider to make UEX distribution agnostic? Just set a certain level of external dependencies like GTK2-2.4 or better (or QT3 v3.5 or better). Make the installer work without the presence of APT or RPM - it's really not that hard to do. There is only 1 universal archive format under Linux - tar.gz (or tar.bz2 if you are so inclined).

FWIW: I use Slackware Linux exclusively. It's been around longer than RedHat, Ubuntu or Debian and is still around today. Slackware is often heralded as one of the most stable and Unix-like distributions out there and that is why I use it (besides the fact that it is what I learned Linux on - over 12 year ago).

Ron Gage
Westland, MI

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Distributions used
Reply #19 on : Thu April 09, 2009, 08:25:03

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I use Ubuntu at home, but at work they use RH 3.4.6. I love UltraEdit, but I can't go back to using it until I can seamlessly use it both at home and at work.

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Max OS X
Reply #20 on : Thu April 09, 2009, 09:44:15

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I love that the first 2 replies are for the Mac version! I want to throw my name in for that as well... UltraEdit (and UC, and US) work great on VMWare Fusion, but I can hardly wait for a more native alternative! I'm also a lifetime license holder for those three... Certainly would like the same on a Mac version... but I can see still needing the Windows version from time to time, so my vote would be for a "universal" license or an "upgrade and keep" alternative to losing one when obtaining the other.

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Future platforms for UEX
Reply #21 on : Thu April 09, 2009, 10:24:20

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Could you consider making it also available for Fedora/Red Hat. This would require creating a rpm installation program. I believe that this would also make it readily to other distros that also use rpms.
I am really quite excited. I have been using Ultra-Edit on PC since version 2, and have found it the only GUI text editor worth owning. I am currently running machines with Ubuntu and Fedora so I am greatly looking forward to have UEX for use there. Congratulations on a great business decision for you.

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Ubuntu/Debian/**nix?
Reply #22 on : Thu April 09, 2009, 14:26:15

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I use Debian for most all work. However, I will install Ubuntu on systems for others that want a smaller initial installation base. I have yet to encounter an application for Ubuntu that won't install on an equivalent Debian System (as Ubuntu is built on Debian). I hope to be an early beta tester!

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Ubuntu first!
Reply #23 on : Thu April 09, 2009, 23:49:48

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I tossed my Ubuntu laptop at my Windows daughter who happened to be visiting (she teaches grade school kids Windows stuff and has never used Linux). Nary a problem. She found her way around just fine! Which is to say Ubuntu is probably the best Linux distro for Windoze types. It's perhaps the best first release for UE tho a Debian version probably could've sufficed. Hope I'm still on the beta testing list -- I've found some excellent Linux programmers editors but none so complete and intuitive as UE. Gee! I'll finally be able to dump Windoze off my other laptop and test out other Linux distros!

Guest post

Yes it's back - now on Mac!
Reply #24 on : Fri April 10, 2009, 02:59:36

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I can't wait to get the Mac OS release. My long time used favorit editor would be back in town. ;-)
Thanks

Guest post

OpenSuse
Reply #25 on : Sat April 11, 2009, 21:24:46

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Best distribution for KDE that I have found.

Guest post

next linux distribution
Reply #26 on : Tue April 14, 2009, 09:04:20

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I vote Fedora.

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Windows - Ubuntu license Please
Reply #27 on : Tue April 14, 2009, 13:36:41

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I have dual boot WinXP and Ubuntu on my notebook. I would like to be able update the V14 UltraEdit to a dual OS (WinXP & Ubuntu) version of UltraEdit V15.

UltraEdit on Linux isn't a Wine thing like Picasa is it? Hope not.

Guest post

next supported Linux platform
Reply #28 on : Fri April 17, 2009, 06:51:23

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I do professional development on Red Hat Enterprise. I believe the next supported platform should be Fedora / Red Hat

Guest post

Next distributions
Reply #29 on : Fri April 17, 2009, 10:23:37

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Although, for myself, nothing other than Ubuntu has to be supported, i would say it would make sense to aim for Debian and SuSE next.

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UEX
Reply #30 on : Fri April 17, 2009, 21:23:50

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At work I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

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