And VSCode came about mostly from Microsoft's push. They wanted an "in" for non Microsoft languages, and VSCode gave them that, as well as a Microsoft-provided

And VSCode came about mostly from Microsoft's push. They wanted an "in" for non Microsoft languages, and VSCode gave them that, as well as a Microsoft-provided environment for dotNet on Linux / Mac. This meant that JavaScript / Node developers could still be folded into Microsoft tooling (telemetry) without forcing them into the crushing heaviness of Visual Studio on Windows. It was a really slick play. Still, it was an overall positive for the profession, and you can still use VSCodium without the telemetry.