Searching in one file is easy in any text editor. Searching across files (and directories) is more difficult.
I don't use an IDE. In fact, I'd say it's a problem if code requires an IDE in order to work on it effectively (Enterprise Java is the most prominent example of this.) I'm nowhere near Bellard level, but would consider myself above average, and have observed that some of the most productive programmers don't either --- and their code is far easier to understand than e.g. the mostly-autogenerated, split-into-many-tiny-files projects created by those far less skilled.
To suggest that not using an IDE is a sign you're a better developer makes as much sense as suggesting that not using an electric screwdriver to fit things is a sign of a better handyman.
To me it sounds like he/she was saying that mediocre programmers have to rely on IDE features and that various excellent programmer realized they can write better code without it. Before that the statement was that it is bad for project if a IDE in needed to navigate it.
Maybe I am steelmanning too much but it could have simply meant to indicate the existence of a trend that move people toward IDEs and another trend that moves people away from IDEs
To suggest that GP could have written better software had he used an IDE is to suggest that Michelangelo could have painted a better Sistine Chapel fresco had he used an electric paint sprayer.
Or, to bring it back within realistically achievable levels of talent, that Bob Ross's trees would've been happier if he used one.
No one suggested OP could do a better job had he used an IDE (and I have no idea if he did). The claim was that NOT using an IDE somehow signals you're a better developer, which is simply absurd.
So your comparison is wrong in this aspect, as the correct comparison would be "Painters who do not use modern tools made specifically to make painting easier are probably better painters. Michelangelo was the greatest master and he did not use modern tools, after all". Would you agree with that??
I don't use an IDE. In fact, I'd say it's a problem if code requires an IDE in order to work on it effectively (Enterprise Java is the most prominent example of this.) I'm nowhere near Bellard level, but would consider myself above average, and have observed that some of the most productive programmers don't either --- and their code is far easier to understand than e.g. the mostly-autogenerated, split-into-many-tiny-files projects created by those far less skilled.