Slate v0.8.0

Slate 0.8.0

Slate now runs on Linux too, Raspberry Pi included.

Download: on Windows, Slate.exe below (64-bit Windows 10 or 11); if you have 0.2.0 or newer, it offers this update in its status bar by itself. On Linux (64-bit, with GTK 4.8 or newer: Debian 12, Raspberry Pi OS 12 (Bookworm) on a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5, Ubuntu 23.04 and newer), run these two lines in a terminal; they get the package for your computer, which adds Slate's apt repository, so sudo apt upgrade brings later versions:

wget -O /tmp/slate.deb https://github.com/jamesccupps/Slate/releases/latest/download/slate-linux-$(dpkg --print-architecture).deb
sudo apt install /tmp/slate.deb

Or download slate-linux-arm64.deb (64-bit ARM, like the Pi) or slate-linux-amd64.deb (PCs) below and install it with sudo apt install ./slate-linux-arm64.deb; the .tar.gz files are the same program to run without installing.

Linux

• The same engine as on Windows: huge files open instantly (an 826 MB JSON file in a quarter of a second, its lines counted in another quarter), search, Replace all, JSON and XML format, minify and check, and the line tools work the same way, on other threads.
• The same 52 languages' colors and editing: tabs, find and replace, go to line, comments, moving and duplicating lines, word wrap (wrapped lines continue under their indentation), line numbers, zoom, dark and light (following the desktop).
• Tabs and their unsaved text come back after a restart; files changed by other programs are noticed and reloaded when they have no unsaved changes.
• Help → Open files with Slate… makes Slate the app that opens text, Markdown, CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, log and code files when they're double-clicked (Linux lets Slate do that itself; on Windows the same menu item sets it up and opens Default apps).
• Linux habits: one Slate per session (opening a file from the file manager or slate notes.txt in a terminal adds a tab), files dropped on the window open, selecting text makes it available to middle-click paste, new files get LF line breaks.
• Updates come through apt: the package adds Slate's own apt repository (signed with Slate's key, which the package brings), so sudo apt upgrade installs new versions with everything else. Removing Slate removes the repository too.
• Not on Linux yet: the JSON/XML structure panel and path bar, show whitespace, bracket matching and overtype.

Windows

• Slate.exe is now code-signed: Windows shows James Cupps as its publisher (Microsoft's Artifact Signing). While the certificate is new, SmartScreen may still ask the first time.
• Nothing else changes in how Slate works on Windows; under the hood, the engine, colors and editing are now shared with the Linux version.
• GitHub now builds and tests every release for Windows and for Linux on x86-64 and ARM64; only the step that drafts the release can write to the repository.