TextMate News

Anything vaguely related to TextMate and macOS.

Buy a Mac, get TextMate!

Update: Please no more letters asking for free licenses!

I get a fair number of letters asking me to port TextMate to other platforms (not to mention that “textmate for windows” is now in the top 5 of search phrases I receive hits for) — mostly I politely reply that I am presently not interested in doing a port (from now on though, I will just send a link to this post).

Occasionally I write a bit more, as was the case with Chris Campbell. He sent me back the image below where you can see part of the conversation (click to enlarge).

Buy a Mac, get TextMate for free

I love how Chris took the time to set this up and email me the picture. It deserves to be preserved in the form of a blog post :)

It also made me look into setting up a dedicated program for “buy a Mac, get TextMate for free” (in a way where I would still get some revenue). Unfortunately Amazon’s operating agreement for their affiliate program says:

In addition, you may not: (a) directly or indirectly offer any person or entity any consideration or incentive (including, without limitation, payment of money (including any rebate), or granting of any discount or other benefit) for using Special Links on your site to access the Amazon.com Site (e.g., by implementing any “rewards” program for persons or entities who use Special Links on your site to access the Amazon.com Site);

That is no good. At Apple I can only find a .Mac affiliate program. So does anyone have an idea about how to handle this? And preferably in a way where it could be fully automated.

categories General

58 Comments

28 August 2007

by MikeInAZ

I think Apple has an affiliate program:

http://www.apple.com/storeaffiliates/

28 August 2007

by Justin H.

TextMate has enough clout that you should be talking to Apple directly. I hope they can work something out with you so that you can get the profit that you deserve from such sublime software.

I highly suggest that in exchange for this information / the money you save be put toward buying a Textmate license. Search Google for information on Apple’s EPP (employee purchase program)- or odds are if you work for a large enough company you already have such a program in place.

And yes, while most EPP partners specifically say you must be an employee of the company partnered with Apple, I work for (but will not link to) one that also allows use for “Friends and Family”- so considering you all friends, I’m using this post to let you know of the program’s existence.

Even if you find one that does not mention “friend and family” it’s fairly widely known that Apple does not check with the companies to ensure that you are an employee / doesn’t really show an interest in verifying your employment- just keep from doing something foolish like ordering through a K-12 EPP when you’re obviously not a school, or EPP for an Italian company when you’re in the US, etc.

Discounts tend to be fairly small for small items (~$20 off iPods), but for my Mac Pro I saved over $300. Combined with Apple’s free shipping, there’s no reason your savings can’t be translated into a TextMate license (and it’s the next best thing to giving Allan the affiliate money).

[…] his post Buy a Mac, get TextMate, Allan Odgaard […]

It’s not technically a port, rather it’s.. heavily inspired by TextMate - But the ‘e’ editor [http://www.e-texteditor.com/] is probably the closest thing to TextMate on Windows. And they are also working on a Linux port, and if I recall correctly, it works with TextMate bundles

Maybe, as suggested by Justin, you can talk directly to apple, so they will bundle a copy of TextMate with every new Mac they sell. But I think you might loose a lot of money this way. It is needed to somehow identify those who that it is their first time buying a Mac…

This, I think, is true for all great mac apps. See Googles result for similar searches on RapidWeaver and Quicksilver. People seem to think that porting great apps to a crap platform is the answer to making their platforms less crap. Instead they need to get proper platforms so they can enjoy great apps. Get a mac indeed!

(Written in Markdown using TextMate… on a Mac… of course)

28 August 2007

by Andrey Fedorov

Shucks you didn’t do this earlier… I got a Mac mostly for TextMate…

29 August 2007

by Vincent

Same thing here ! I buyed a brand new mac book pro 17” last year, as I read everywhere textmate was the best for ruby on rails. For sure, if mac was crappy I’d never done the switch. But nevertheless, without textmate I think I’d be working with ubuntu right now.

I’ll never regret that choice.

Apple has to be fair with you ;-)

29 August 2007

by Anonymous

So if windows is out, what about other OSes?

Not fair :) My employer determines what machine I get to use. I would love to get my hands on a mac, but unfortunately am forced to use Windows. Luckily there are several ports from Mac (& Unix/Linux) programs that make working on Windows a little less bad, but only a little.

29 August 2007

by James Hicks

Ahh I respect your philosophy Allan, enjoying what you do is far more important. I work in a studio that is completely Windows, however I moved the dusty testing iMac to my desk and havent opened Dreamweaver on Windows since.

Even the Visual Studio fan is jealous a bit

[…] bald alle Switcher komplett und kostenlos mit neuer Software zugedeckt werden. In dem Artikel Buy a Mac, get TextMate! beschreibt er eine Konversation mit einem ehemaligen Windows-User, der unbedingt TextMate auf […]

You could always file a radar: “Recently purchased Macs missing free copy of TextMate,” see where that ends up :-)

Seriously though that would be an awesome idea, I’ve definitely interested plenty of friends in the platform due to TextMate alone.

Last weekend a friend of mine, like me a long time flash-developer, traded his PC with a mac… after seeing people in his surroundings doing stuff with their mac’s he could only dream of (TextMate, TextMate and TextMate ofcourse). His switch to Vista was not a pleasant one; it almost made him completely bald, so he switched to a Mac Book Pro 17”. He’s a happy camper now! For years I couldn’t really convince people 100% to go to the mac-platform, but since TextMate it became pretty easy to convice some people. Expecially Flash-coders… coding ActionScript 2 in TextMate is a very good experience and coding ActionScript 3 in the upcoming AS3-bundle is also great. Can’t wait to see TextMate2.

The Apple Store affiliate program is at Commission Junction.

Well, truth be told, I think TextMate (and the underlying POSIX interface) is why most programmers are migrating to the Mac. So your program is converting people, and Apple should be interested in affiliating you somehow.

I still run windows, and use E-texteditor, which is the nearest I can get to TextMate. I’d switch to Mac and TextMate but for the fact I’m using Visual Studio for a product.

[…] nenn ich doch mal ein Angebot! Im TextMate Blog beschreibt der Entwickler Allan Odgaard wie ein Windows-Benutzer dazu drängt, dass er den […]

See the bucket in the background of the photo? I hear that Windows users have to keep one on hand at all times for when their awkward development tools make them throw up.

Textmate was one of the major reasons that I finally jumped the boat and converted. Apple has made money off me indirectly through your efforts in my circumstance which I’m sure is not uncommon. Apple should foster relationships with developers who create killer apps on their platform. I’d go straight to the source in this circumstance.

How about buy: TextMate, get a Mac :)

29 August 2007

by Chris Gerber

Have you considered talking to some of the bigger resellers? Maybe OWC, MacMall, Small Dog, or the like could work something out for you?

I’ve bought my Mac so I could run TextMate. The POSIX / *nix platform is a great bonus if you’re a programmer.

I forced one person I’m learning to program into buying a Mac so he could use TextMate. (A lot easier to teach)

Hopefully some smart people at Apple realize the potential and attraction you provide.

Contact the OmniGroup they have their products bundled with new Mac’s. They should be able to tell you how their arrangement with Apple was solidified.

http://www.omnigroup.com/

Sales, Business, and Public Relations Queries info@omnigroup.com For general business queries or website comments. sales@omnigroup.com For purchasing software, requesting volume licensing quotes, or other special licensing needs not covered by the online store. marketing@omnigroup.com For resellers, journalists, reviewers, advertising partners, and other folks who need to talk to our PR team.

Phone: +1 206-523-4152 x0 Toll Free: +1 800-315-OMNI x0 Fax: +1 206-523-5896 Street: Omni Development, Inc. 2707 NE Blakeley Street Seattle, WA 98105-3118

dude… if I buy i mp pro (which i am soon soon..), with proof of purchase i.e. receipt, can I get a copy of textmate?!!!

LOL @ Drew McLellan

@David: Just get a Mac for everything else and use parallels/bootcamp when you’re forced into visual studio.

TextMate is the greatest editor EVER which is clear to anyone who has used it. I’m stuck on windows only at work too and it’s the most unfortunate thing that’s ever happened to me – you don’t know until you have experienced it.

Hey that’s my MacBook! :D

I also think that if you went straight to Apple they could work something out with you to do this. I don’t think bundling it on every mac is a good idea though as a lot of mac users wouldn’t even use it. But perhaps a checkout code or something similar to that that will cause your mac to ship with a textmate license, or even just email it to you after checkout.

Yeah, I got an iBook two years ago, largely because of Textmate. (DHH’s Rails screencast was the best advertisement for Textmate yet)

Now I’ve got a Macbook and an iPhone. I’d say that Apple has made a hefty profit from me on account of Textmate.

E-TextEditor is an excellent editor that has some features that beat even TextMate; it’s not some horrible, painful experience as some would lead you to believe. Actually, I find working on Windows to be fine. Not great, but fine (I do a lot of GIS work, which requires a PC). I truly don’t see why so many people are so snarky about non-Apple PCs. If I give you a lift in my car and it’s not as good as yours, politeness and civility would suggest that you’re not going to tell me it’s a piece of crap to my face; that would be plain rude, no? Well that’s what Mac owners do to all of us unfortunates who can’t afford, or don’t particularly need a Mac. You all seem to snigger into your sleeves, point and sneer and generally act like insecure school bullies.

Yes, your machines are better; your OS experience is better; you look cooler when you get your laptop out in public. Apple is acknowledged now as the best PC maker in the industry with the best OS. There’s nothing left to prove or feel insecure about. Apple have won. We all know it, so get over it and stop being so rude to poor Windows users; it really makes you look like jerks and isn’t funny.

(And yes, I have owned Macs and think they’re great) :)

[…] TextMate Blog » Buy a Mac, get TextMate! uj machez ingyen textmate?! (tags: textmate osx software editor mac apple) […]

Allan,

If they don’t allow you to use special links on the website, then how about sending a special link via e-mail?

BTW, I purchased PowerBook G4 in 2005 to use TextMate and Rails :)

I think you should reconsider porting Textmate to Linux and Windows (use a cross platform library to avoid extra work).

If you don’t, the author behind “E” will probably port it to Mac when he has a feature complete version. Then you will have to compete with a multi-platform editor. A lot of Mac-users have to use something different at work, so if they have a choice of using the same editor at both places…

Like James, I was definitely thinking of OmniOutliner being bundled with Macs. With Leopard on the way, and whatever goodness you have in store for us come next version, I wonder if Apple wouldn’t bundle TextMate right in?

TextMate appeals mostly to developers, so perhaps it’s a little different than what they have chosen to bundle. But they bundle things like QuickBooks and ComicLife which I certainly have never used. Worth a shot?

Most Mac users would bend over backwards to avoid using a Windows port. This is especially true of advanced users, which TextMate caters to. I don’t think this is a serious concern.

I’m actually buying my first Mac today. I can’t wait! What did I include in my estimation for the whole thing? Textmate.

30 August 2007

by nexusprime

I have a TextMate license, but I somehow can’t shake myself from VIM :)

Good for you for not selling out! You may want to contact MacMall.com or one of those big mac distributors at have them offer TextMate with new Mac purchases with a 100% rebate, that way can possibly still get some money for it.

Or in a perfect world. With Apple having so much cash with them they may decide to splash out a big sum of money and just get Textmate to completely replace the text editor inside Leopard.

That would means buying a new mac with Leopard, or upgrading to leopard to be a BARGAIN!

That would also mean everyone could enjoy Textmate as well.

Textmate was one of the things I was looking forward to when I made the decision to switch to Mac. Although, I must admit I cursed your name and thought you a religious zealot while I was still using Windows. I’m making the transition from VIM to TM now.

Hunf I wish this had happened before. I did buy a mac because of textmate (and bought textmate because of ruby on rails) :p

That’s an interesting idea, Allan! I think this app is one of the main selling points of the platform for developers. You should probably try talking to developer relations and see what they say!

[…] the message has been well received in Redmond […]

18 September 2007

by Andrew Skegg

While Rails is by no means the only reason people buy Textmate, with it being bundled with Leopard I think you have a real chance to get a trail version of Textmate in there as well. I would contact Apple to see what they can do here, or go through 37 Signals to get Textmate somehow included in the “baked in” Rails app.

Of course, none of this solves the problem of supplying licenses to people who purchase a new mac. Perhaps give people a fully featured version which does not include any updates? If they want updates or newer versions they need to purchase a license.

08 October 2007

by Phil Thompson

Thanks Hal you summed up my thoughts nicely.

I am also using E Text Editor and although not as mature as TextMate it has some really good features and support for TextMate bundles and themes. I agree that there would be no point in porting E back to the Mac but for us Windows users it’s great. It would be nice to see more collaboration between the two groups particularly with regards to the bundles but perhaps after reading some of these comments I think I might get looked down at.

Im seriously thinking about getting a Mac simply because of TextMate. No other reason why, so its defiantly something Apple should be trying to exploit, by giving free copy of TextMate with a new Mac

There must be an email address at Apple where all of you could send your comments about TextMate :) Maybe Apple would include it in OSX and pay a fee per each OSX copy sold.

How about buy: TextMate, get a Mac :)

This might not be such a bad idea. Maybe it’s possible to set up some kind of virtual reseller where you buy a Mac with TextMate for X amount of money. Since you would be a reseller you would get some special price for the hardware and the difference with the selling price would be the TextMate income :)

you’re not going to tell me it’s a piece of crap to my face; that would be plain rude, no? Well that’s what Mac owners do to all of us unfortunates who can’t afford, or don’t particularly need a Mac

That’s funny. The only reason I, and other people who have used macs for years, point at crappy windows stuff is because for years we have been pointed at for using “that other computer that is not windows”. Seriously, at my uni, when you said you had a mac they would look weird at you, ask you “do they still exist?” or “why? are u into graphic design?” and then say they don’t support macs, so if you had any problem configuring the printers or connecting to their FTP it would be the mac’s fault for “not being compatible”…

Maybe you could use a software package like www.idevdirect.com/idevaffiliate.php to manage affilate sales of textmate yourself. I haven’t used it but I have heard it is good and I is used by Aaron Wall of SEObook.com, so it much be pretty decent.

Great work on Textmate which I think is one of best mac apps I own.

19 October 2007

by Phil Thompson

But that’s because at Uni they were all kids ;)

And I know when I was at Uni, tech support would look for anyone/thing else to blame other than their own incompetence.

Some smaller online retailers would definitely work with you (I imagine) like small dog, or whatever. Try them, I hope it works!

15 November 2007

by Jason Katzer

i really think this is something worth pursuing again. just try it out with a smaller retailer as suggested above. if i was a small etailer and i received increased purchases and brand recognition, i would definitely offer a kickback of up to 5% depending on however the apple margins work out to begin with. i know a lot of my pc friends who are jealous of textmate would be that much closer to making the switch.

I showed textmate to two of my work mates and they switched to mac just to be able to run textmate.

17 February 2008

by Venkatesh K Reddy

I am using MacbookPro and Linux desktop. It did not take more than a week for me to realize that I have found my dream editor in the form of TextMate. I have decided to swap my top of the line LinTel desktop to MacPro and of course TextMate ;).

After i switched from windows to linux and osx some years ago, i tried nearly every editor out there … and no, there’s nothing similar to TextMate (and no: emacs isn’t an editor!)

I just purchased a Mac, are you serious, you’ll give me a textmate code?

It would be great, as I’m trying to edit some XML file for my flash (that I got from my school), maybe my school should provide textmate too!!

20 February 2009

by TextMate is great

I’ve jumped ship to Mac (from linux) for textmate.

No matter how much I tweaked gedit I couldn’t get what I wanted, and forget emacs for lovely little things for your new languages, tired of editing my .emacs!

I have the demo now, and I like it, just downloading bundles.

I’ve used editplus, ultraedit, notepad++, gedit, kate, vim, emacs and scintilla based editors and not found something that feels quite as good at all.

Nice one!

There was a slashdot article about developers flocking to mac (idiots at /. tagged it as madeup) and I can see, a lot of projects I use all have mac based screencasts now =)

[…] nach eigenen Angaben keine Portierung auf andere Systeme übernehmen will, beziehungsweise kein Interesse an einer solchen Portierung hat: I get a fair number of letters asking me to port TextMate to other platforms […] — mostly I […]

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