> The author complains about VSCode's extensions clashing, but then proudly lists a dozen Kate plugins they use.

That makes sense; when I was reading this I inferred that VSCode's extensions were clashing, making him loath to use it, but Kate's were not.

> That's not simplicity […] you're not using a "simple" text editor anymore

Kate has literally "advanced" in its name. KWrite exists for those who need simplicity.