One of the issues I have is that I work on multiple disconnected servers, and so I usually end up installing emacs on all of them. Using tramp is an option, but often times I just want a local editor because I find myself needing one in the context I'm working in. But all the servers run slightly different OS versions, etc.
Maybe a mangaged-for-me distribution that does most everything I want without me fiddling with it is the way to go.
