5 ms·

> I hope they don't discontinue Atom Hadn't crossed my mind that they might drop Atom for VS Code before...

by hobofan 8y ago

nielsbot 8y ago
I thought VS Code was Atom? (well, a fork of)
- spicyj 8y ago
  It’s not. They are both web-based but otherwise unrelated.
- gschier 8y ago
  No, not at all. The only common component (I think) is Electron (Atom shell).
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- ezekg 8y ago
  VSCode is built on top of the same framework as Atom, Electron, which was previously called Atom-shell.
  - frutiger 8y ago
    It's worth noting that the core contributors to Electron are Github employees.
    - toyg 8y ago
      That gives the acquisition a very different perspective. What if MS is really buying Electron? It’s something they’ve been using a lot in all their recent products, and it’s a key technology in the contemporary development landscape. Making it more Windows-friendly would definitely help them.
      - statictype 8y ago
        Improving Electron can be done far cheaper and easier than acquiring a company. The only thing GitHub has that Microsoft can't easily get on their own is the user base. That's what this acquisition will be about.
        H4CK3RM4N 8y ago
        But controlling a leading platform so completely isn't cheap.
      - Rapzid 8y ago
        They can also ensure the next electronconf isn't cancelled. Everyone wins!
- rhencke 8y ago
  No, it's not a fork. They both run on Electron, so they share a common runtime environment, but they share no editor code.
  - jonny_eh 8y ago
    Wasn't Electron created for Atom? If so, VSCode is at least using a part of Atom.
    - Gaelan 8y ago
      I mean, by that argument Windows uses Unix because C was written for Unix.
      - johannes1234321 8y ago
        At least historically Windows used different parts of UNIX. i.e. they used BSD's TCP/IP stack for quite some time. Also used "UNIX services for Windows" and recently added the Windows subsystem for Linux.
    - rhencke 8y ago
      That doesn't make Electron _a part_ of Atom. If I build my application on top of Linux, my application is not _a part_ of Linux. Electron is its own application framework, that Atom builds itself on top of. Electron is not a text editor framework, no more than QT or Cocoa is. It is _very_ fair to say VSCode is using Electron - heavily, in fact! But saying VSCode is using part of Atom is just not true, and implies VSCode is building atop the Atom editor, which it does not.
- nielsbot 8y ago
  Well, answering myself... Looks like it uses the Electron Shell project which was part of Atom https://thenextweb.com/apps/2015/04/30/microsofts-cross-platform-visual-studio-code-app-is-based-on-githubs-atom-editor/ https://thenextweb.com/apps/2015/04/30/microsofts-cross-plat...
Iv 8y ago
Atom is open source though. One company can not decide to kill it. https://github.com/atom/atom https://github.com/atom/atom
- emilsedgh 8y ago
  In my experience, open source projects that are primarily backed by companies fail to create a real community of developers. Therefore when the company dies, development stalls. RethinkDB was something that I though would still go strong without the backing. I never used it and was never involved, so I'd love to hear what happened when the company died. (One exemption is Xfree86 though, which was forked successfully by to community to Xorg if I recall correctly)
  - undseg 8y ago
    That's true, and I want to add that usually it's the company's fault for not guiding the project into the hands of the community (be it intentionally or because of incompetence). Rust is a great example of a "company's project" that reached (or is reaching) a nice spot in autonomy.
  - Iv 8y ago
    I agree but I think Github and Atom are special cases. A light IDE is not rocket science and this project is known (and loved) by many open source developers.
  - egeozcan 8y ago
    It's not going very well for RethinkDB, sadly: https://github.com/rethinkdb/rethinkdb/issues/6659 https://github.com/rethinkdb/rethinkdb/issues/6659
- 2_listerine_pls 8y ago
  Someone has to maintain it.
- bengotow 8y ago
  Sure they can't "kill" it, but a huge fraction of the work on Atom comes from full-time people employed by GitHub. They can handicap it to the point that VSCode becomes the better editor.

> I hope they don't discontinue Atom Hadn't crossed my mind that they might drop Atom for VS Code before...

nielsbot 8y ago

I thought VS Code was Atom? (well, a fork of)

spicyj 8y ago
It’s not. They are both web-based but otherwise unrelated.
gschier 8y ago
No, not at all. The only common component (I think) is Electron (Atom shell).
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
ezekg 8y ago
VSCode is built on top of the same framework as Atom, Electron, which was previously called Atom-shell.
- frutiger 8y ago
  It's worth noting that the core contributors to Electron are Github employees.
  - toyg 8y ago
    That gives the acquisition a very different perspective. What if MS is really buying Electron? It’s something they’ve been using a lot in all their recent products, and it’s a key technology in the contemporary development landscape. Making it more Windows-friendly would definitely help them.
    - statictype 8y ago
      Improving Electron can be done far cheaper and easier than acquiring a company. The only thing GitHub has that Microsoft can't easily get on their own is the user base. That's what this acquisition will be about.
      - H4CK3RM4N 8y ago
        But controlling a leading platform so completely isn't cheap.
    - Rapzid 8y ago
      They can also ensure the next electronconf isn't cancelled. Everyone wins!
rhencke 8y ago
No, it's not a fork. They both run on Electron, so they share a common runtime environment, but they share no editor code.
- jonny_eh 8y ago
  Wasn't Electron created for Atom? If so, VSCode is at least using a part of Atom.
  - Gaelan 8y ago
    I mean, by that argument Windows uses Unix because C was written for Unix.
    - johannes1234321 8y ago
      At least historically Windows used different parts of UNIX. i.e. they used BSD's TCP/IP stack for quite some time. Also used "UNIX services for Windows" and recently added the Windows subsystem for Linux.
  - rhencke 8y ago
    That doesn't make Electron _a part_ of Atom. If I build my application on top of Linux, my application is not _a part_ of Linux. Electron is its own application framework, that Atom builds itself on top of. Electron is not a text editor framework, no more than QT or Cocoa is. It is _very_ fair to say VSCode is using Electron - heavily, in fact! But saying VSCode is using part of Atom is just not true, and implies VSCode is building atop the Atom editor, which it does not.
nielsbot 8y ago
Well, answering myself... Looks like it uses the Electron Shell project which was part of Atom https://thenextweb.com/apps/2015/04/30/microsofts-cross-platform-visual-studio-code-app-is-based-on-githubs-atom-editor/ https://thenextweb.com/apps/2015/04/30/microsofts-cross-plat...

Iv 8y ago

Atom is open source though. One company can not decide to kill it. https://github.com/atom/atom https://github.com/atom/atom

emilsedgh 8y ago
In my experience, open source projects that are primarily backed by companies fail to create a real community of developers. Therefore when the company dies, development stalls. RethinkDB was something that I though would still go strong without the backing. I never used it and was never involved, so I'd love to hear what happened when the company died. (One exemption is Xfree86 though, which was forked successfully by to community to Xorg if I recall correctly)
- undseg 8y ago
  That's true, and I want to add that usually it's the company's fault for not guiding the project into the hands of the community (be it intentionally or because of incompetence). Rust is a great example of a "company's project" that reached (or is reaching) a nice spot in autonomy.
- Iv 8y ago
  I agree but I think Github and Atom are special cases. A light IDE is not rocket science and this project is known (and loved) by many open source developers.
- egeozcan 8y ago
  It's not going very well for RethinkDB, sadly: https://github.com/rethinkdb/rethinkdb/issues/6659 https://github.com/rethinkdb/rethinkdb/issues/6659
2_listerine_pls 8y ago
Someone has to maintain it.
bengotow 8y ago
Sure they can't "kill" it, but a huge fraction of the work on Atom comes from full-time people employed by GitHub. They can handicap it to the point that VSCode becomes the better editor.