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The default builds of vscode include telemetry and a non-free license. For a truly free build of vscode, you need to use vscodium. See their description: https
by nitsky 6y ago
The default builds of vscode include telemetry and a non-free license.
For a truly free build of vscode, you need to use vscodium. See their description: https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodium#why-does-this-exist https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodium#why-does-this-exist.
I suspect many developers are unaware of this.
- opencl 6y agoThe most important practical detail here is that if you run vscodium, or download and build the vscode repo from microsoft yourself, or use any forks of vscode, you cannot install any of the extensions hosted on microsoft's servers without violating their license terms. There are alternative extension marketplaces such as https://open-vsx.org/ https://open-vsx.org/ but they are missing a lot of the extensions, some of which are proprietary.
- bobajeff 6y agoThe vscode marketplace also provides a link to download extensions as a vsix file on every extension page. So if the extension isn't on open-vsx I just download it directly and install it.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- antonvs 6y agoThat's true, although anyone who cares about truly free software presumably would look into the details to check. You can disable the telemetry: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/faq#_how-to-disable-telemetry-reporting https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/faq#_how-to-di... My point was really that it's free and open enough for any practical purpose I'm able to discern. Refusing to use it on the grounds of insufficient openness or freedom seems to me to require an unreasonably absolutist ideological stance on the issue.