VS Code: Navigating Open Source, Extensions, and Telemetry
Microsoft’s VS Code, a popular IDE among developers, has recently faced scrutiny. But what’s all the buzz about? Let’s dive in!
The VS Code Marketplace: A Mixed Bag
While VS Code remains an open-source hero, there’s a hitch: VSCodium provides binaries built using the open-source code, but lacks Microsoft Marketplace access. Now, many criticize VS Code for allegedly promoting proprietary extensions over open-source ones. Here’s my take:
I appreciate the countless extensions available for free, and I’ve used many of them. For instance, GitLens caught my eye with its features but lost me at the $5/mo subscription after its trial. I personally found value in alternatives like GitUp, which is a Mac desktop app which is free and open-source. That being said, extensions, free or paid, deserve our support. The time and effort developers put into them should be acknowledged, perhaps even monetarily.
But what if, instead of paying for a single extension, we could access a bundle with assured support for our most pressing issues? It’s worth considering, especially if the VS Code Marketplace is gearing towards this.
Telerik & The Beauty of Paid Software
Throwback time! I remember Telerik, the Danish company which sells licenses for UI components for Microsoft’s tech stack. Their quick forum responses were a lifesaver years ago when I used their products. Fast forward to iOS development, and the landscape was very different. There was no market for packages backed by customer support, I was dependent on GitHub-reported bugs being deemed “priority.”
Sure, I appreciate open-source code, but having licensed code with a support agreement has real value when the team which supports the software effectively adds to the headcount of my team. Purchasing a license for $300 which saves me 120 hours of work and gives me 1 year of technical support is a no-brainer.
Telemetry: Friend or Foe?
Another hot debate surrounding VS Code? Telemetry. We’re living in an age hyper-aware of data tracking and its implications.
Having been on the inside of app development, I’ve seen the utility of such data. For instance, monitoring user sign-in success rates alerted us to outages and allowed for quick resolutions. The key here was that no Personally Identifiable Information (PII) was ever collected. The focus was on app performance, user experience, and issue prioritization.
If VS Code follows suit, telemetry can be a valuable asset. The real concern would arise if this data veered off course, serving advertisers more than developers. How could we know what data is collected and how it is used?
Wrapping Up
So, is the rumored shift of VS Code towards commercial software products all doom and gloom? My take: as long as free and open-source extensions thrive, and the IDE stays open-source, my concerns are mitigated.
Telemetry, on the other hand, requires transparency. For now, as I can’t envision how my VS Code usage would be valuable to data brokers it is not a big concern. The real value is my activity on the Marketplace website which can reveal which types of extensions are most useful to me.
Ultimately, if there’s a tool that amplifies my productivity, I’m on board. Unless there is a smoking gun of blatant abuse of my personal data, I am not inclined to be concerned.
Supporting the developers and teams behind such VS Code? Yes, it has been a great tool for years and will remain an essential part of my toolkit.
