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While this is "based on" the open source codebase of VSCode, it's very much unclear from the project page which features and dependencies aren't open source or

While this is "based on" the open source codebase of VSCode, it's very much unclear from the project page which features and dependencies aren't open source or even free-as-in-beer (..and may require a paid subscription, enterprise plan purchase, premium account, etc). I.e., where they are making money off of this. One clear indication that there are strings attached is that they're bundling a specialized GenAI assistant with the IDE. Wish it was made clear in the FAQ. It doesn't cover this at all.

juliasilge 1y ago
Hello! I work on Positron. We outline some answers here: https://positron.posit.co/faqs.html#how-can-i-use-positron-with-a-server https://positron.posit.co/faqs.html#how-can-i-use-positron-w... tl;dr is that the desktop app (including remote SSH sessions) is free to use with a permissive license (no account needed, no subscription, commercial use is OK, etc), but using Positron in a server mode does require a paid subscription.
- teruakohatu 1y ago
  Can it be run through a web browser like VS Code and RStudio? Why did you relicense it under Elastic License 2.0 from VSCode’s MIT? A better alternative would be proprietary extensions under a different license like Microsoft does.
  - juliasilge 1y ago
    Yes, but that is the server mode that is not free to use. If you want a free mode that lets you connect to a server, you might want to check out the remote SSH support: https://positron.posit.co/remote-ssh.html https://positron.posit.co/remote-ssh.html We talk a bit about why we chose the Elastic license here: https://positron.posit.co/licensing.html https://positron.posit.co/licensing.html We have thought pretty carefully about what kind of functionality works well in extensions (in fact, we build and maintain a number of extensions!) and came to the decision that the more integrated data science experience we wanted to make required forking.
    - notpushkin 1y ago
      Please consider adding a delayed open-source license/clause :-) Also, are you using Open VSX, and what’s your take on the recent malware extension story?
      - juliasilge 1y ago
        Thanks for your thoughts on the license; we know that it's FRAUGHT, for sure. Our company makes quite a lot of software available under OSI-approved licenses (MIT, etc) and we did think pretty carefully about what to try here, given our goals around both OSS and building a sustainable business. We do use OpenVSX, yes, like the other forks, and our company is a major sponsor of OpenVSX. Security around the extension ecosystem is a pretty messy, complicated issue both for the proprietary Microsoft marketplace and OpenVSX. For example, the recent Amazon Q story! I currently think about it as conceptually fairly similar to the risks of using packages from PyPI or npm.
        teruakohatu 1y ago
        > Thanks for your thoughts on the license; we know that it's FRAUGHT, for sure There is no doubt that your company maintains a lot of high quality open source code. But in this case Posit is re-licensing Open Source code, with a "source available" license. Posit is free to help itself to VSCodium, but not the other way around. I do hope Posit will one day reconsider this.
- alterom 1y ago
  Thanks for answering! >tl;dr is that the desktop app (including remote SSH sessions) is free to use with a permissive license (no account needed, no subscription, commercial use is OK, etc), but using Positron in a server mode does require a paid subscription. I feel the FAQ would've been better off with this as an answer to a separate question ("Is Positron really free?"). First, this information is hard to infer from the text you have there. Second, I wouldn't wouldn't know to look for this information in a question about the server mode. I don't know what it is before I look deeply into your product! Before that, I want to know what is actually free about this platform, and what isn't. Then I can learn what the server mode is.

juliasilge 1y ago

Hello! I work on Positron. We outline some answers here: https://positron.posit.co/faqs.html#how-can-i-use-positron-with-a-server https://positron.posit.co/faqs.html#how-can-i-use-positron-w... tl;dr is that the desktop app (including remote SSH sessions) is free to use with a permissive license (no account needed, no subscription, commercial use is OK, etc), but using Positron in a server mode does require a paid subscription.

teruakohatu 1y ago
Can it be run through a web browser like VS Code and RStudio? Why did you relicense it under Elastic License 2.0 from VSCode’s MIT? A better alternative would be proprietary extensions under a different license like Microsoft does.
- juliasilge 1y ago
  Yes, but that is the server mode that is not free to use. If you want a free mode that lets you connect to a server, you might want to check out the remote SSH support: https://positron.posit.co/remote-ssh.html https://positron.posit.co/remote-ssh.html We talk a bit about why we chose the Elastic license here: https://positron.posit.co/licensing.html https://positron.posit.co/licensing.html We have thought pretty carefully about what kind of functionality works well in extensions (in fact, we build and maintain a number of extensions!) and came to the decision that the more integrated data science experience we wanted to make required forking.
  - notpushkin 1y ago
    Please consider adding a delayed open-source license/clause :-) Also, are you using Open VSX, and what’s your take on the recent malware extension story?
    - juliasilge 1y ago
      Thanks for your thoughts on the license; we know that it's FRAUGHT, for sure. Our company makes quite a lot of software available under OSI-approved licenses (MIT, etc) and we did think pretty carefully about what to try here, given our goals around both OSS and building a sustainable business. We do use OpenVSX, yes, like the other forks, and our company is a major sponsor of OpenVSX. Security around the extension ecosystem is a pretty messy, complicated issue both for the proprietary Microsoft marketplace and OpenVSX. For example, the recent Amazon Q story! I currently think about it as conceptually fairly similar to the risks of using packages from PyPI or npm.
      - teruakohatu 1y ago
        > Thanks for your thoughts on the license; we know that it's FRAUGHT, for sure There is no doubt that your company maintains a lot of high quality open source code. But in this case Posit is re-licensing Open Source code, with a "source available" license. Posit is free to help itself to VSCodium, but not the other way around. I do hope Posit will one day reconsider this.
alterom 1y ago
Thanks for answering! >tl;dr is that the desktop app (including remote SSH sessions) is free to use with a permissive license (no account needed, no subscription, commercial use is OK, etc), but using Positron in a server mode does require a paid subscription. I feel the FAQ would've been better off with this as an answer to a separate question ("Is Positron really free?"). First, this information is hard to infer from the text you have there. Second, I wouldn't wouldn't know to look for this information in a question about the server mode. I don't know what it is before I look deeply into your product! Before that, I want to know what is actually free about this platform, and what isn't. Then I can learn what the server mode is.