4 ms·

Visual Studio Code has also some official extensions that are not open source and the official build contains a few proprietary features by default. The only t

by ognarb 5y ago

Visual Studio Code has also some official extensions that are not open source and the official build contains a few proprietary features by default. The only thing I like with Visual Studio Code is that they were able to promote a cross text editor way to have auto-completion and other IDE-like features, thanks to the Language Server Protocol. Now I can use these features in Vim and Kate.

jcelerier 5y ago
> Visual Studio Code has also some official extensions that are not open source and the official build contains a few proprietary features by default. I don't understand how that is remotely ok. VSCode's main binary links statically against Blink (as it uses Electron) which is under LGPL, at the very minimum they should provide a way to relink that binary as per LGPL requirements.
- erk__ 5y ago
  I don't think there s a static linking going on there, else it would be impossible to use Electron for closed source software. Though it is used for things like Discord.
  - jcelerier 5y ago
    > I don't think there s a static linking going on there, else it would be impossible to use Electron for closed source software. no, the closed source part can stay closed source but relinking against a custom version of Blink must be allowed. Just run "strings" on the code binary: you'll see symbols coming straight from Blink like this one: https://github.com/chromium/chromium/blob/72ceeed2ebcd505b8d8205ed7354e862b871995e/third_party/blink/renderer/core/html/forms/html_form_controls_collection.cc https://github.com/chromium/chromium/blob/72ceeed2ebcd505b8d... $ strings code-insiders | grep HTMLFormControls HTMLFormControlsCollection
    - nitrogen 5y ago
      Are those symbols defined in that file, or is that an import reference from a library? What does (your platform's equivalent of) nm or ldd say?
      - jcelerier 5y ago
        it only links against basic Linux / X11 / GTK stuff (and, I mean, at 123 megabytes, there's not much doubt that there's chromium inside that binary) $ objdump -p /opt/visual-studio-code-insiders/code-insiders | grep NEEDED NEEDED libffmpeg.so NEEDED libdl.so.2 NEEDED libpthread.so.0 NEEDED librt.so.1 NEEDED libgobject-2.0.so.0 NEEDED libglib-2.0.so.0 NEEDED libxshmfence.so.1 NEEDED libgio-2.0.so.0 NEEDED libnss3.so NEEDED libnssutil3.so NEEDED libsmime3.so NEEDED libnspr4.so NEEDED libatk-1.0.so.0 NEEDED libatk-bridge-2.0.so.0 NEEDED libdbus-1.so.3 NEEDED libdrm.so.2 NEEDED libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0 NEEDED libgtk-3.so.0 NEEDED libgdk-3.so.0 NEEDED libpango-1.0.so.0 NEEDED libcairo.so.2 NEEDED libm.so.6 NEEDED libX11.so.6 NEEDED libXcomposite.so.1 NEEDED libXdamage.so.1 NEEDED libXext.so.6 NEEDED libXfixes.so.3 NEEDED libXrandr.so.2 NEEDED libexpat.so.1 NEEDED libxcb.so.1 NEEDED libxkbcommon.so.0 NEEDED libgbm.so.1 NEEDED libasound.so.2 NEEDED libatspi.so.0 NEEDED libgcc_s.so.1 NEEDED libc.so.6 NEEDED ld-linux-x86-64.so.2
        nitrogen 5y ago
        Interesting, thanks for checking.
TAForObvReasons 5y ago
VSCodium is a build that does not include any of the proprietary bits: https://vscodium.com/ https://vscodium.com/
- rychco 5y ago
  Unfortunately there are extensions & features that (last I checked) only work in VSCode but not VSCodium. 'Remote Development' extension was the one I found out was apparently closed source.
  - johannes1234321 5y ago
    That one is based on "proper" VisualStudio's remote development features, so it originated from a closed source product. Having observed that multiple times, I assume that open sourcing it is a major effort as this probably includes some third party code or patent licenses or something which prevent open sourcing. At least I don't see the business case Microsoft would play there in keeping it closed but freely available. But who knows. And: That aside the role Microsoft nowadays plays in the open source world is reason for concern, while their current actions are mostly positive.
    - hackerfromthefu 5y ago
      The business case is a combination of Discretionary Pricing, and Moat - those are the business school names for the strategies you can look up if you like.. The Discretionary pricing comes in the Tiers, while the Moat is provided by VS Code reducing the chance of real competition against Tier 1 or 2. The removal of hot reload from VS Code is to provide differentiation between Tier 2 & 3, to drive customers to paid versions. -- Tier 1 .. Visual Studio Enterprise - expensive Tier 2 .. Visual Studio - low medium cost for a business Tier 3 .. Visual Studio Code - 'free' in exchange for your info (via telemetry) and reduces the chance of a truly open competitor challenging the above tiers. This one must walk a line between being less useful than above tiers so there's value to buy them, while being more useful than other 'free' competition in the short term so they attract mindshare away from other OSS that might otherwise grow to challenge the higher Tiers

by ognarb 5y ago

jcelerier 5y ago

> Visual Studio Code has also some official extensions that are not open source and the official build contains a few proprietary features by default. I don't understand how that is remotely ok. VSCode's main binary links statically against Blink (as it uses Electron) which is under LGPL, at the very minimum they should provide a way to relink that binary as per LGPL requirements.

erk__ 5y ago
I don't think there s a static linking going on there, else it would be impossible to use Electron for closed source software. Though it is used for things like Discord.
- jcelerier 5y ago
  > I don't think there s a static linking going on there, else it would be impossible to use Electron for closed source software. no, the closed source part can stay closed source but relinking against a custom version of Blink must be allowed. Just run "strings" on the code binary: you'll see symbols coming straight from Blink like this one: https://github.com/chromium/chromium/blob/72ceeed2ebcd505b8d8205ed7354e862b871995e/third_party/blink/renderer/core/html/forms/html_form_controls_collection.cc https://github.com/chromium/chromium/blob/72ceeed2ebcd505b8d... $ strings code-insiders | grep HTMLFormControls HTMLFormControlsCollection
  - nitrogen 5y ago
    Are those symbols defined in that file, or is that an import reference from a library? What does (your platform's equivalent of) nm or ldd say?
    - jcelerier 5y ago
      it only links against basic Linux / X11 / GTK stuff (and, I mean, at 123 megabytes, there's not much doubt that there's chromium inside that binary) $ objdump -p /opt/visual-studio-code-insiders/code-insiders | grep NEEDED NEEDED libffmpeg.so NEEDED libdl.so.2 NEEDED libpthread.so.0 NEEDED librt.so.1 NEEDED libgobject-2.0.so.0 NEEDED libglib-2.0.so.0 NEEDED libxshmfence.so.1 NEEDED libgio-2.0.so.0 NEEDED libnss3.so NEEDED libnssutil3.so NEEDED libsmime3.so NEEDED libnspr4.so NEEDED libatk-1.0.so.0 NEEDED libatk-bridge-2.0.so.0 NEEDED libdbus-1.so.3 NEEDED libdrm.so.2 NEEDED libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0 NEEDED libgtk-3.so.0 NEEDED libgdk-3.so.0 NEEDED libpango-1.0.so.0 NEEDED libcairo.so.2 NEEDED libm.so.6 NEEDED libX11.so.6 NEEDED libXcomposite.so.1 NEEDED libXdamage.so.1 NEEDED libXext.so.6 NEEDED libXfixes.so.3 NEEDED libXrandr.so.2 NEEDED libexpat.so.1 NEEDED libxcb.so.1 NEEDED libxkbcommon.so.0 NEEDED libgbm.so.1 NEEDED libasound.so.2 NEEDED libatspi.so.0 NEEDED libgcc_s.so.1 NEEDED libc.so.6 NEEDED ld-linux-x86-64.so.2
      - nitrogen 5y ago
        Interesting, thanks for checking.

TAForObvReasons 5y ago

VSCodium is a build that does not include any of the proprietary bits: https://vscodium.com/ https://vscodium.com/

rychco 5y ago
Unfortunately there are extensions & features that (last I checked) only work in VSCode but not VSCodium. 'Remote Development' extension was the one I found out was apparently closed source.
- johannes1234321 5y ago
  That one is based on "proper" VisualStudio's remote development features, so it originated from a closed source product. Having observed that multiple times, I assume that open sourcing it is a major effort as this probably includes some third party code or patent licenses or something which prevent open sourcing. At least I don't see the business case Microsoft would play there in keeping it closed but freely available. But who knows. And: That aside the role Microsoft nowadays plays in the open source world is reason for concern, while their current actions are mostly positive.
  - hackerfromthefu 5y ago
    The business case is a combination of Discretionary Pricing, and Moat - those are the business school names for the strategies you can look up if you like.. The Discretionary pricing comes in the Tiers, while the Moat is provided by VS Code reducing the chance of real competition against Tier 1 or 2. The removal of hot reload from VS Code is to provide differentiation between Tier 2 & 3, to drive customers to paid versions. -- Tier 1 .. Visual Studio Enterprise - expensive Tier 2 .. Visual Studio - low medium cost for a business Tier 3 .. Visual Studio Code - 'free' in exchange for your info (via telemetry) and reduces the chance of a truly open competitor challenging the above tiers. This one must walk a line between being less useful than above tiers so there's value to buy them, while being more useful than other 'free' competition in the short term so they attract mindshare away from other OSS that might otherwise grow to challenge the higher Tiers