4 ms·

I don't see the beneficial element to this project. Visual Studio Code is opensource, free of charge and used by millions at this point, why would anyone want a

by Dinux 8y ago

I don't see the beneficial element to this project. Visual Studio Code is opensource, free of charge and used by millions at this point, why would anyone want another license just because of the license alone?

bakoo 8y ago
For me, it's more about telemetry than licensing.
- immigrantsheep 8y ago
  AFAIK telemetry can be disabled with "telemetry.enableTelemetry": false
  - Zekio 8y ago
    isn't it agains't GDPR having it be like that?
    - chii 8y ago
      wouldn't downloading and agreeing to the eula suffice for purposes of this?
      - majewsky 8y ago
        No. GDPR requires that users must be able to use the service after opting out of data collection (except if the data collection is required for rendering the service to the user). A EULA, in contrast, must be accepted, otherwise the service may not be used.
    - jonathonf 8y ago
      An opt-in is required under GDPR for personally identifiable information, not "any data ever". Anonymous/aggregated data collection is allowed under the GDPR, though this data collection should still be made clear to the user (and it is on https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/FAQ#_gdpr-and-vs-code https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/FAQ#_gdpr-and-...).
- carlmr 8y ago
  Doesn't it suffice to set the following in your User Settings? "telemetry.enableTelemetry": false Honestly I'm very happy to give telemetry data. Microsoft is doing so much to improve the experience, they can make it better with some data.
  - lucideer 8y ago
    This doesn't suffice unfortunately. That setting has worked inconsistently, or not at all, and add far as I've seen in my own testing it never disables all telemetry. There have been issues open on GitHub about this for a long time, though it's a few months since I checked there for updates (I stopped bothering and just put it in my firewall rules; I still see blocked connections in thy log today). I'm a very happy vscode user, but this is one antifeature does continue to bother me.
    - bunderbunder 8y ago
      It really is annoying that they don't make it opt-in instead. They've got plenty of users; I can't imagine they need to be collecting usage statistics from everyone. I'm curious what would happen if a moderate-size country (say, Belgium) were to pass a law saying that telemetry must be opt-in. I bet it would convince everyone to just be universal opt-in for simplicity's sake. That said, I bet it's still nothing compared to the level of data collection that a typical website does these days.
    - lucideer 8y ago
      > @bunderbunder I bet it's still nothing compared to the level of data collection that a typical website does these days. I'd say the opposite. Consider that (a) you typically visit websites briefly and periodically while most vscode users have it open as long as their computer is on, and (b) Electron provides access to lot more device data than the browser sandbox. The reason websites tend to have such far-reaching and devious user-tracking methods is because they're working in such a restricted environment and have to innovate; native desktop apps have far less restrictions.
      - 8y ago
thepumpkin1979 8y ago
Exactly. I like the idea of having VSCodium as an option but I don’t have an urging need to use this fork since just removing a license and telemetry endpoints doesn’t really add any value compared to the official package.
- rambojazz 8y ago
  It doesn't look like a fork to me. It only seems to be a build script for building VS (and possibly remove some anti-features).
- hiccuphippo 8y ago
  Removing telemetry adds a lot of value. To each its own, I guess.
  - GordonS 8y ago
    It would add value if VSCode didn't allow you to disable it and didn't document what data was sent - but it is documented, and it's trivial to disable it if you choose to do so. I don't see the point of this.
swongel 8y ago
For use in FLOSS distributions like Ubunutu or Debian. Like how Firefox got rebranded as [Iceweasel/Icecat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_IceCat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_IceCat) so their logo/branding didn't have to be distributed by FLOSS distributions.
rambojazz 8y ago
Actually I think this would be rather useful to have. I don't use VS personally, but if I understand correctly their binaries are not free even though users can build their own from a free source code. If this "VSCodium" simplifies the building process, and also removes some anti-features in the process such as telemetry, I think it has value.
- wgerard 8y ago
  ? VSCode is definitely free in the "beer" sense.
  - rambojazz 8y ago
    Sorry, I mean "free software" I wasn't talking about price.
    - wgerard 8y ago
      Ah gotcha! Apologies, then. I probably should've read a little more closely.
hiccuphippo 8y ago
If there's people that use Chromium binary builds, there's people that will use this.
- AndrewDavis 8y ago
  Makes sense for inclusion in package repositories.
jillesvangurp 8y ago
The source license and binary distribution license are different. The source code is MIT licensed; nothing wrong with that. Great license for this. The binaries are provided with a different license that also covers components from third parties that may not be in the vs code repo as well as telemetry and other data gathered. If for whatever reason you don't like this license, you can build from source. This project seems to do that and remove all of the MS branding and telemetry. There are only a handful of commits on the project so it does not look like it is massive change. The big question is whether that adds enough value and whether this project will make enough effort to keep it's fork up to date. I agree that for the vast majority of users, using the official binaries should be perfectly fine. MS did a fine job with this product. But nothing wrong with having the choice.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- SparkyMcUnicorn 8y ago
  Looking around, this repo is just a few ~10 line shell scripts. Very simple, and it isn't a fork of vscode. It clones the Microsoft repo directly and builds it from that.
- RBO2 8y ago
  How different is this from Chromium and Chrome?
xenophonf 8y ago
The VSCode binary release is not open source and not redistributable but rather "source available", and "free of charge" doesn't confer "freedom to tinker". VSCode does have costs associated with it's use, specifically its users' privacy, which they give up by agreeing to Microsoft's data collection terms. You may not value your freedom to tinker or your right to privacy, but the people who run and use this project do.
- WalterGR 8y ago
  You can replace “VSCode” with “Chrome” and “Microsoft” with “Google” in your comment. I guess that’s why this project is called VSCodium.
ryanolsonx 8y ago
F the EULA license. That's what VS Code is licensed under when you download from their site, _not_ the MIT license. That's the heart of why this is excellent.

by Dinux 8y ago

bakoo 8y ago

For me, it's more about telemetry than licensing.

immigrantsheep 8y ago
AFAIK telemetry can be disabled with "telemetry.enableTelemetry": false
- Zekio 8y ago
  isn't it agains't GDPR having it be like that?
  - chii 8y ago
    wouldn't downloading and agreeing to the eula suffice for purposes of this?
    - majewsky 8y ago
      No. GDPR requires that users must be able to use the service after opting out of data collection (except if the data collection is required for rendering the service to the user). A EULA, in contrast, must be accepted, otherwise the service may not be used.
  - jonathonf 8y ago
    An opt-in is required under GDPR for personally identifiable information, not "any data ever". Anonymous/aggregated data collection is allowed under the GDPR, though this data collection should still be made clear to the user (and it is on https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/FAQ#_gdpr-and-vs-code https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/FAQ#_gdpr-and-...).
carlmr 8y ago
Doesn't it suffice to set the following in your User Settings? "telemetry.enableTelemetry": false Honestly I'm very happy to give telemetry data. Microsoft is doing so much to improve the experience, they can make it better with some data.
- lucideer 8y ago
  This doesn't suffice unfortunately. That setting has worked inconsistently, or not at all, and add far as I've seen in my own testing it never disables all telemetry. There have been issues open on GitHub about this for a long time, though it's a few months since I checked there for updates (I stopped bothering and just put it in my firewall rules; I still see blocked connections in thy log today). I'm a very happy vscode user, but this is one antifeature does continue to bother me.
  - bunderbunder 8y ago
    It really is annoying that they don't make it opt-in instead. They've got plenty of users; I can't imagine they need to be collecting usage statistics from everyone. I'm curious what would happen if a moderate-size country (say, Belgium) were to pass a law saying that telemetry must be opt-in. I bet it would convince everyone to just be universal opt-in for simplicity's sake. That said, I bet it's still nothing compared to the level of data collection that a typical website does these days.
  - lucideer 8y ago
    > @bunderbunder I bet it's still nothing compared to the level of data collection that a typical website does these days. I'd say the opposite. Consider that (a) you typically visit websites briefly and periodically while most vscode users have it open as long as their computer is on, and (b) Electron provides access to lot more device data than the browser sandbox. The reason websites tend to have such far-reaching and devious user-tracking methods is because they're working in such a restricted environment and have to innovate; native desktop apps have far less restrictions.
    - 8y ago

thepumpkin1979 8y ago

Exactly. I like the idea of having VSCodium as an option but I don’t have an urging need to use this fork since just removing a license and telemetry endpoints doesn’t really add any value compared to the official package.

rambojazz 8y ago
It doesn't look like a fork to me. It only seems to be a build script for building VS (and possibly remove some anti-features).
hiccuphippo 8y ago
Removing telemetry adds a lot of value. To each its own, I guess.
- GordonS 8y ago
  It would add value if VSCode didn't allow you to disable it and didn't document what data was sent - but it is documented, and it's trivial to disable it if you choose to do so. I don't see the point of this.

swongel 8y ago

For use in FLOSS distributions like Ubunutu or Debian. Like how Firefox got rebranded as [Iceweasel/Icecat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_IceCat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_IceCat) so their logo/branding didn't have to be distributed by FLOSS distributions.

rambojazz 8y ago

Actually I think this would be rather useful to have. I don't use VS personally, but if I understand correctly their binaries are not free even though users can build their own from a free source code. If this "VSCodium" simplifies the building process, and also removes some anti-features in the process such as telemetry, I think it has value.

wgerard 8y ago
? VSCode is definitely free in the "beer" sense.
- rambojazz 8y ago
  Sorry, I mean "free software" I wasn't talking about price.
  - wgerard 8y ago
    Ah gotcha! Apologies, then. I probably should've read a little more closely.

hiccuphippo 8y ago

If there's people that use Chromium binary builds, there's people that will use this.

AndrewDavis 8y ago
Makes sense for inclusion in package repositories.

jillesvangurp 8y ago

The source license and binary distribution license are different. The source code is MIT licensed; nothing wrong with that. Great license for this. The binaries are provided with a different license that also covers components from third parties that may not be in the vs code repo as well as telemetry and other data gathered. If for whatever reason you don't like this license, you can build from source. This project seems to do that and remove all of the MS branding and telemetry. There are only a handful of commits on the project so it does not look like it is massive change. The big question is whether that adds enough value and whether this project will make enough effort to keep it's fork up to date. I agree that for the vast majority of users, using the official binaries should be perfectly fine. MS did a fine job with this product. But nothing wrong with having the choice.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
SparkyMcUnicorn 8y ago
Looking around, this repo is just a few ~10 line shell scripts. Very simple, and it isn't a fork of vscode. It clones the Microsoft repo directly and builds it from that.
RBO2 8y ago
How different is this from Chromium and Chrome?

xenophonf 8y ago

The VSCode binary release is not open source and not redistributable but rather "source available", and "free of charge" doesn't confer "freedom to tinker". VSCode does have costs associated with it's use, specifically its users' privacy, which they give up by agreeing to Microsoft's data collection terms. You may not value your freedom to tinker or your right to privacy, but the people who run and use this project do.

WalterGR 8y ago
You can replace “VSCode” with “Chrome” and “Microsoft” with “Google” in your comment. I guess that’s why this project is called VSCodium.

ryanolsonx 8y ago

F the EULA license. That's what VS Code is licensed under when you download from their site, _not_ the MIT license. That's the heart of why this is excellent.