Doom Emacs

Doom Emacs is a preconfigured setup for GNU Emacs that turns it into a fast, modern code editor. If you've used Vim or other contemporary editors and always felt Emacs was too slow or complicated to set up, Doom bridges that gap by providing sensible defaults and a clean, minimal aesthetic right out of the box.

At its core, Doom packages together hundreds of carefully chosen tools and configurations that would normally take weeks to assemble yourself. It includes syntax highlighting and smart code completion for most programming languages, integrations with popular development tools (Docker, Terraform, Ansible), and optional Vim-style keybindings if you prefer that workflow. The setup also includes things like project search, workspace management, and a system to automatically adjust indentation based on what file you're editing. All of this is organized into roughly 150 optional modules, so you only load what you actually use.

The real appeal is speed and stability. Doom is designed to start quickly and run without lag, even with lots of packages installed. It also handles package management in a reproducible way—think of it like declaring exactly which versions of add-ons you want, so you can reliably recreate the same setup on another machine or roll back if an update breaks something. Installation is straightforward: clone the repo, run doom install, and you're ready to code.

Who uses this? Developers tired of vanilla Emacs's sprawl, Vim users curious about Emacs's power but unwilling to compromise on speed or keybindings, and people who want a solid foundation to build their own customized editor. The README emphasizes that Doom isn't trying to be a one-size-fits-all solution—it's opinionated about what's good, but doesn't force you to use everything. It also won't silently install system dependencies for you; instead, you run doom doctor to see what's missing and install it yourself.