For the record, I (as the author of the original article) agree with all of this. My point wasn't to say that Coda is bad, but rather to explain why it's never felt like the right tool for me.
You do have to edit files directly on the server with Diet Coda, and that's the product I was talking about when I made the point about editing files directly on the server.
And it wasn't a critique of software I've never used, it was an explanation of why it has never appealed to me.
Hey, Jeff Croft (author of the article) here. I'm not sure you read the whole thing, or read it very closely, because I agree with what you're saying, and I said so in the piece. There's a market for the product, and I don't begrudge them making it -- it's just not for me. I wish Panic would make a product for me, because they make damn good products. It's like if I needed a pickup truck but loved BMWs. Coda isn't what I need, but I really, really want to like it because I love Panic's stuff so much.
I'm right there with you, man but what got people riled up is the way you mentioned PHP and MySQL. It came off a lot like a lot of posts by people who just really enjoy insulting anyone who doesn't use Ruby/Python and Postges/Any NoSQL DB. I'm sure you didn't mean it to come off that way but, unfortunately, to some people it did (including me I'm afraid).
I made no comment on which tools or languages are better or worse than others. I only pointed out that many modern apps are not built with PHP/MySQL, and Coda feels like it only really caters to those that are.
I can't argue with you. It's not what you actually said, it's how it was perceived. What we say and what others hear in their heads as they read are often out of sync. I really wouldn't worry about it though. Despite that minor issue some have the rest of your point still got across for the most part.
