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Issues with VSCODE License — You should worry

Priyab Dash on October 27, 2019

Note: This blog post is purely my thoughts about the topic and in no way is meant to discredit the product or the company behind it. My sole purpos...
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Charles Rhee

I have a different opinion. Dear Microsoft and VSCode team: Thank you. Keep up the great work!

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ultradain profile image
Dain

I agree with you 100%.

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nateous profile image
Nate • Edited

Microsoft has code in their version that they don't want you to decompile. That is all. Hence the license agreement.

I still use the version from Microsoft on my Mac for personal projects. If I don't want Microsoft to watch what I do with their software I'll compile my own version. Until then, they will continue to update the software based on the usage data they track. Best of both worlds if you ask me.

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SD Dev.to

I am grateful to Microsoft for a brilliant product which they don't ask me a cent for.

No need for FUD.

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Christopher McClellan

This is no different than Chrome and Chromium. The product most people download and install has extra proprietary features and code, but is based upon a truly open source code base. If you have a problem with this, then you should have a problem with Chrome too.

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Micah Francisco

Your point is correct and well taken. This is actually why I use chromium instead of chrome. Since reading this article, I've replaced VS Code with Codium and was able to remove the only Microsoft repository on my system, which felt good. Checking add-ons now. Thanks to the author!

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lewdis profile image
Lewis

Just like to note that even chromium still includes proprietary code, you need ungoogled chromium for that.

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Nick Connors

I thought it was common knowledge that the source code was open source but the compiled binaries were not. This isn't really news to most people.

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BRNK • Edited

This article should be deleted or edited. The entire thing is based on the author having a misunderstanding of the difference between the binaries and the code having 2 different licenses.

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moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

I've been using VSCodium for a year or so because of this.

I'm assuming that the only thing reverse-engineering VSCode binaries will find is the aforementioned telemetry, but the provision is there in their license.

I don't understand why anyone would use proprietary binaries from a company like Microsoft when there's a direct, free alternative.

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Jaff Parker

There could be reasons. I use proprietary binaries because mostly they allow for quicker support than using only open source. Plus, I use Windows anyway, there's no open source version of that, lol.

But it depends on your priorities. I just realized that trying to keep my information out of hands of corporations is a waste of my time, they already have everything they need. So might as well take advantage of it.

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Priyab Dash

Thank you for pointing that I am also seriously thinking about using VSCodium in the interim. But its time also to see other alternatives.

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Nicolas Bailly

May I suggest Jetbrains products ? I've switched to PHPStorm and Pycharm years ago and never looked back.

Plus they're completely closed source so at least you know where you stand.

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moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

It's funny for someone to recommend closed source for that kind of reason, but it's not stupid: things that only appear free are basically trojans.

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swervinglemon profile image
Brian

You do realize that the entire framework of the net would be unsustainably expensive if not for open source, don't you?
I know MS, Amazon and Oracle would love to see a world where everyone was using their hosting software. I'm sure 99% of us hosting sites are glad that's not the case.

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Luca Orlandi

Dont'forget Google.

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swervinglemon profile image
Brian

Ugh. Yeah. It might be a really good time to fork every bit of Google's code that's still open and run away with it. Is the go compiler still OSS?

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refinedm5 profile image
refinedm5 • Edited

Microsoft is backing linux because they have to, as half of their Azure IaaS customers are running linux. They have to resort to linux to power their virtual network appliance. They even engineered WSL to keep Windows on desktop relevant

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michbushi

They even engineered WSL to keep Windows on desktop relevant

That was very funny 😂. What percentage of desktops are NOT Windows and Macs, again?

Quite the opposite is true in my opinion; if the WSL 2.0 lives up to the promise, it completely extinguishes the need for Linux on Desktop (which is not being used by anyone, statistically, anyways)

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refinedm5 profile image
refinedm5 • Edited

If we're talking strictly about developer, here:
Windows: 45.3%
MacOS: 29.2%
Linux: 25.3%
BSD/Unix: 0.1%
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_...

Yes, linux are used quite significantly by developers

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tomxp411 profile image
Tom Wilson

If you download the Github version and compile it, then the MIT license applies. If you download the binary from Microsoft, then the binary license applies. I’m assuming that’s because there are some proprietary bits in the binary that aren’t in the open source core.

This Seems like a non-issue to me.

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Matei Adriel • Edited

For those who dont know theres a project called vs codium which removes all ms stuff from vsc:)

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Priyab Dash

It looks promising but without some of VSCode's MS plugins vs codium is just another normal IDE though I would like to reserve my observation till I try it out.

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Peter Cruckshank

The only extension I haven't been able to run in VSCodium is Live Share. Other than that all the MS extensions still work fine.
It's awesome

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mateiadrielrafael profile image
Matei Adriel

That and also the discord presence one

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Matei Adriel

What do you mean? You can use any extension with it:)

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Seanmclem

I feel like this issue probably means very little, to a very few.

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Pavel Vergeev • Edited

Offtop: a lot of people think that open source is actually sustainable. See this talk on the sustainability of open source by the creator of Ruby on Rails.

Now, I’m not saying that there’s something categorically wrong with developing open source on market-based terms. What I’m saying is that it isn’t a necessary condition of sustainability.

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sollace profile image
­Sollace

Your quote is misleading.

He said "[FOSS] isn't a necessary condition of sustainability" not that "FOSS is not sustainable"

i.e. It may not automatically make your project sustainable, but it definitely won't stop you from achieving sustainability.

Open-Source projects can still be sustainable.

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vergeev profile image
Pavel Vergeev

Open-Source projects can still be sustainable

I tried to say the same thing

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Okezie E

Though Microsoft has been benefiting from Linux/Unix for years with it's cloud offerings (plus Hotmail ran on Unix for a looong time) I have a feeling this may be flavor of it's Embrace, Extend, Extinguish strategy.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_e...
They seem to be in the EMBRACE stage. They joined the Linux foundation and have made heavy "donations" which earned them a director seat - they've bought their way into influencing the future of Linux.

Though Linux can't really be extinguished, I'm curious where they go or hope to go with this new "love" for Linux. Maybe it's true love, maybe it's ...

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Scott Simontis

Nothing but FUD? Times change. SCO tried to destroy Linux to further their software. Oracle releases the JVM under a much more restrictive commercial license. Red Hat might be transforming into a patent troll. Richard Stallman is being petitioned to step away from the GNU Foundation. Linus Torvalds can be incredibly rude and sensitive to his own contributors .

Microsoft employs hundreds of thousands of people across countless teams. I don't think it's fair to classify such a diverse organization of having an evil agenda without being able to provide substantial evidence.

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eizeok profile image
Okezie E

Well... that same "diverse organization" has HAD evil agendas that only became apparent after the destruction was complete, so what are you even talking about?

If you READ my comment you'll see that I didn't make any claims. I said what they've done so far feels like a stage in the strategy they have employed to crush competition in the past.

Like I said, Linux can't be "crushed", but it can be steered in a "direction". For better or for worse. Hence I'm curious what they will actually do with the influence they are buying their way into.

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ssimontis profile image
Scott Simontis

I was trying to point out that lots of organizations have tried to get rid of Linux with their efforts perceived very differently by the public.

I do not appreciate your dismissive tone. I did read your comment and personally felt the disrespectful tone was uncalled for.

You may not have forecast any specific claims, but the language and attitude of your post suggests that you have already made up your mind about their intentions.

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qws profile image
Qws

Godot and Blender are opensource and they are doing good.

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Marcus S. Abildskov • Edited

Yeah, Microsoft didn't buy GitHub because of wanting free open source. They bought it to completely OWN open source.
What will people do if they start charging money for GitHub for basic usage?
You'd have to transfer all your repositories somewhere else.
Everything that's free will never stay free, and conglomerates like Microsoft, Facebook or Google makes sure of that.

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Benjamin Furstenwerth

The day Microsoft bought GitHub I switched moved all my repos to gitlab. I am happier for that decision every day. I was almost unable to login to post this but thankfully Twitter was an option. I recommend anyone who uses GitHub try out gitlab.

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Will Vincent

Except the changes that were made to the pricing schedule are opposite what you worry about. I was already paying for github, could stop paying and have same benefits I started paying for initially (unlimited private repos) but I'm not worried about the $7/more which has been providing me quality since well before MS owned it, and will continue to do so.

It would not be in their interest to make the sort of changes you fear... now or ever.

Free access to Saas products, for most businesses, is a very worthwhile loss leader.

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Abhinav Kulshreshtha

It's kind of a debatable scenario. In simple terms, Source code of VSCode is open source, But compiled binaries provided by microsoft is not. So if you want a true open source edition, you can compile the source code yourself. Or you can use a community compiled distribution like vscodium. Only bad stuff is that they have final control of project, So if community want to add a feature which are not in their interest, they can be an authoritive roadblock on the PR. Visa-versa, if there is a feature which they like, they will add it, irrespective wether community want's it or not.

It's bad but it's very common scenerio. Chromium is open source but google chrome is not. But marketing team of those companies love the twist of terminology. And google has final control of the project itself, so screw adblockers, If you want one, good luck maintaining your own fork.

It's even worst for android. The project and base code is open, android OS is not. But if you try to compile the OS yourself, you can't because there are hard dependencies on google services, without which the OS won't be functional. And those services are licensed. There are a few open source alternatives like gapps, but recently google want's you to get a certification key from them if you want to use those alternatives on a real hardware. Similar to how microsoft want to provide UEFI keys for linux distros.

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CPBen

I release my code under the ISC license. I use OpenBSD. I pay server companies money to use their hardware. They win. I have a secure server. I want that to continue. So it's in my interest to contribute money or diff's to OpenBSD. They win. I win. Microsoft Windows 10 is closed source and having a mountain of problems that their employees can't seem to fix. Looks like a closed source financial loss. Plays both ways.

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McNerdius

Normally i don't weigh in on issues such as this as i am a huge fan of VSCode and thus my opinion is biased. Here, though, misinformation is being spread in the comments regarding telemetry and the perspective of what is being "added" or "removed" is skewed.

The telemetry code and information isn't secret, hidden, closed-source, proprietary... You can look at the telemetry code in the repo, and you can view the telemetry information being sent by setting Log Level to Trace (F1->Developer->Set Log Level...) then navigating to Log (Telemetry) in the Output panel's dropdown.

While VSCodium does remove this code, it also isn't hidden from the public or "added in" to the official MS build. What is excluded from the MIT-licensed repo and added in to the MS-Licensed build are urls and keys used by the telemetry code. Excluding private keys and such from a git repo is standard practice, no ? To reiterate: they are not adding telemetry code to the MS build, they are excluding telemetry keys required for this functionality from the repo. (Of course, those biased against MS will point out that there is likely code that implements telemetry within the marketplace/debugging/etc code that is bundled with the official build - but this is incidental.)

There are other things like copyrighted icons/logos, marketplace/debugging/update code included as well, but that's not conspiracy-worthy is it ?

github.com/microsoft/vscode/wiki/D...

Now, for some opinion...

I look at telemetry of this sort as similar to voting. There are some features i use that i don't want to go away. If i (and others) let them know i'm using it, it's less likely to go away. If something is going wrong, i want them to know, so it can be fixed. You can skip voting or telemetry if you so choose, but you're not helping yourself or anyone else by doing so. And if you do share, you are likely to help yourself and others. A key difference being - MS isn't collecting any personal information and worst-case-scenario is the shared info is ignored.


If it can be shown that i'm mistaken about any of this, do let me know - i don't want to be spreading misinformation myself.

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boo radley

I read through all of your post, but I'm not sure what your exact concern is. I'm not trying to be dismissive, but I don't understand your complaint.

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Priyab Dash • Edited

I like that many here are having a much needed discussion about VSCode and Open Source license in general. But I am not alone in raising the issue.

Few References:

carlchenet.com/you-think-the-visua...
opensource.stackexchange.com/quest...

Those who do not care or understand about dual license issue and its implications, they can ignore my post. But those who do, they should explore vscodium with a clear license stipulation. As in stack exchange one user commented:

So VSCode and Visual Studio Code are different products. What a mess. I'm sticking with Mousepad. – 
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laundmo profile image
laundmo • Edited

theres a version of vscode that runs on a server, for those wanting a alternative.

so far ive only had problems installing some plugins but other than that it works great, and i can edit from wherever i am without having to install anything

search for "code-server" if you're interested

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Omicron

MIT license applies to source.
For binary release, they may distribute VS with any "bonus" features and their own licence.

Thanks for your post, I would rather have telemetry disabled by default...
And I will definitively check vscodium !

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willvincent profile image
Will Vincent

Every last bit of this. Yes.

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eizeok profile image
Okezie E

I switched to vscodium after learning about the telemetry closed source code that Microsoft adds to vscode.

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metz20001 profile image
metz2000

What's the problem with telemetry? Without it most of the products, including websites would be full of useless features.

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eizeok profile image
Okezie E • Edited

Nothing at all, telemetry for guiding the direction of a product is great.

Why is it closed source? And what else is in the code? What stops other "actions" from being added to this telemetry codebase??

I can't be bothered to wonder about all that when there is a perfect alternative in vscodium.

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wbrianwhite

So vscode source gets updated with bug fixes found by telemetry in vscode, then vscodium gets the code fixes? That's great as a free rider approach, but if the telemetry and fixes weren't there vscodium would suffer.

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Jeremy Forsythe

Telemetry stuff is closed source so you don't see how they send the data back to their servers. It doesn't necessarily mean something nefarious. You use closed source every day. It isn't inherently bad.

That said, Microsoft has given enough reasons to mistrust them over the years that the paranoia is understandable.

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Stuart Aitken

"It isn't open source so I don't want to use it". What?

Alright Julian Assange, go and make your own code editor.

And by the way, comparing VSCode to Eclipse is flat-out wrong. Eclipse is an IDE, VSCode is a souped up text editor.

If you want to talk about a Microsoft IDE, you need to look at Visual Studio.

To be honest I don't even know why VSCode exists. No need to hate on it for 'open source' reasons though. A criticism like that doesn't make a jot of sense.

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mrfrasier profile image
mrfrasier

So for those of us in the audience not paranoid and wearing tin hats, what exactly is there here to “worry” about?

 
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Nicolas Bailly

Oh wow, I had no idea, thanks for pointing that out !

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johnpc123 profile image
John Costello

I dare say that the profits of Microsoft make open source contribution very sustainable.

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michbushi profile image
michbushi

Hopefully, it also sustains your mortgage

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muayyadalsadi profile image
Muayyad Alsadi

You can get a build of the opensource mit licensed vscode here

flathub.org/apps/details/com.visua...

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Paulo Rodrigues

Is good to see in the comments that many people now have an open mind about this kind of questions 🙂. Yet, many still use their dusty tin foil hats.

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Gayan Hewa

VSCode was the first product that gave me hope about the company and its direction after Steve Ballmer called Linux/Open source a cancer.

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Paddy3118

A lot of governments will be looking again at open-source to lessen their dependence on foreign and sometimes capricious governments.

 
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Paddy3118

Docker, it's usage pails in comparison to that of the one-time leading browser that was IE. Being closed-source didn't stop IE from loosing it's crown.