alt Hacker NewsThere's an underlying assumption about "target audience for this editor" that you both share, that others, I suspect quite a few others, do not.
For starters, there's your assumption that there is "syntax" to be highlighted. Not every text file is something written in a computer programming language.
You're right, I do assume most (90+%? of) people that are looking for a terminal editor are likely developers.
In fact I'd put money on it, but sadly do not have any evidence to back it up.
If you have evidence to the contrary I'd be intrigued!