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0 pointsmetaphor2y ago0 comments

> VS Code is just that much better.

The trouble here is that "better" comes at a cost that the community has yet to truly realize, and Microsoft is very good at playing the long, slow bleed game; if strategic fractures[1] come to fruition, that debt will be repaid and it's going to be very expensive.

[1] https://ghuntley.com/fracture/

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7 comments · 3 top-level

rewmie2y ago· 2 in thread

> The trouble here is that "better" comes at a cost that the community has yet to truly realize,

Is there actually a cost, though? I mean, I understand the argument over the strategic aspect of adopting a tool that may or may not continue with acceptable terms, but is that risk really significant?

By now vscode is already 8 years old and there is no concrete hint that licensing will change. Even so it's hardly irreplaceable.

Isn't this one of those problems where it only makes sense to worry about them if they really happen?

paulryanrogers2y ago

If VSCode drives all competitors out of business then we're all poorer because we'll have fewer options

russh2y ago

No other options is a problem, fewer worse options, I’m ok with that.

wink2y ago· 2 in thread

The question is how many people would pay for alternatives instead of using VS Code.

I don't think usage alone does amount for anything. Other free offering will not go away and if something would happen, many (including me, a casual Code user) would simply switch back to what we used before, or a new thing.

MS will not manage to extuingish the "competition" because the competition doesn't even compete, they release their editors and IDEs and simply exist.

metaphorOP2y ago

That you so readily conflate the editor itself as a terminal end rather than a cleverly disguised means to an end hiding in plain sight is what makes Microsoft's strategy so scary; they're so effective at steering even knowledgable users into completely missing the forest for the trees as you've clearly demonstrated.

wink2y ago

Please enlighten me. I'd accept "taking away people who would write extensions for FLOSS editors", I'd accept "taking people away who would buy an editor" but I really don't see how me using VS Code for a few hobby projects instead of vim (what I still do half of the time) changes anything.

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politelemon2y ago

The reasoning put forward in that link are weak. A large part of it hinges on forks of vscode being unable to use the marketplace, and assuming worst intent in all other areas, and not balancing any other movements with the good that has been done over the past few years.

While reading this I realized I could easily say that cncf/k8s has fractured the container community.

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