I don't usually do this "argument by argument rebuttal" but since your post is extremely misleading I can't resist:

> pretty much an inferior copy of an existing thing (Atom)

How? For starters, it's a lot faster which appears to be a major reason why people switch

> but not really built as a nice platform to be meaningfully extended

Well that's up for debate now isn't it? Its plugin ecosystem disagrees with a perceived lack of extensibility.

> used cynically as a wedge to pull developers into your orbit

How does VSC do that? I use it and I've never seen it advertise other Microsoft products or services to me.

> and controlled by a single company

Fork it.