Google releases closed source VS Code plugin | Hacker News Reader

Google releases closed source VS Code plugin

github.com

49 pointsmfer33 comments

This is of course in contrast to Microsoft, who releases their Azure plugins under the MIT License [1][2][3] etc

[1] https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-azureappservice/blob/mas... [2] https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items/ms-azuretools.vsc... [3] https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items/ms-azuretools.vsc...

Most Microsoft VSCode plugins are open source. If you click on details in the extension marketplace, you'll see a lot of GitHub URLs:

https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/publishers/Microsoft

And perhaps most ironically in this context:

https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-go

It's "VS Code" not "vs. Code". That makes it sound like it's closed source versus code.

That was certainly correct when submitted. Hacker News silently rewrites submission titles, in order to fight clickbait (and to correct common mistakes, I guess).

Unless you re-check and verify your submission title when redirected to /newest, you will never know.

I updated/fixed it. Something other than myself changed it.

And the URL should be updated to https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/cloud-code-vscode

Not the LICENSE file that is currently linked.

The license file is linked because the news being posted is that the plug-in of under proprietary terms, which are linked in the license file.

So Google releases a closed source library for an open source Microsoft product? You can't make up jokes this good.

There is nothing strange here. Google has both open source and proprietary software. Source is not available for nearly all of Google's websites.

I’m not liking this. With all the shenanigans of companies like Kite, doing funny things with people’s code, I’m not keen on closed source tools from cloud companies. I realize my code gets uploaded to Google anyway, but this is just uncomfortable.

Why is this on GitHub if there’s no source?

For the contributions maybe?

https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/cloud-code-vscode/blo...

For the issue tracker.

Is there really nothing better?

There are better issue trackers, but the target market almost certainly has a Github account, and is searching for things on Github (rather than Google). Hence not hosting it on Gitlab or Bitbucket.

You'd say they use the issue tracker software of the Chromium project, which is essentially the issue tracker of when Google Code still existed.

It's good enough, but more importantly, that's where people already are.

CONTRIBUTING.md [0] is odd given the LICENSE and, even moreso, absence of available code in the repo. They ask for PRs and CLAs, but... how?

Huh, digging more, it used to have an Apache 2.0.LICENSE file. Wonder what the story is.

[0] https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/cloud-code-vscode/blo...

Well, in 2019 I guess Microsoft is the new Google and Google is the new Microsoft.

One more reason not to support Google I guess. I don't understand the appeal of VS code anyway - its nothing but a slow Electron thing. Notepad++ and Sublime blow it out of the water.

VS Code has great debug integrations. I used to be fully on sublime, then I dabbled in Atom and VS code because I liked the aesthetic and value that in something I have to stare at all day.

The debug integrations in VS Code were what hooked me. Very clean, extensible, and they work. It's certainly what won me over compared to Atom.

Just curious, I've briefly tried JetBrains and VS Code, and to me, VSC just seems like a worse IDE. Why not just use a good IDE instead?

I don't really want a full IDE. I basically want sublime + minimal features to help me debug more quickly. I mostly want a text editor that gets out of my way, but can whip out more powerful tools (within reason) when I need them.

Vim/nano/emacs can certainly pull out power, but grokking them on as deep a level as sublime/atom/vscode requires a steep curve (and is complementary anyway).

Something full like VS is too heavy for me personally. I rarely use 80% of the features, and the ones I do want tend to be more complex in the more powerful IDEs when maybe I only need some simple version.

I can certainly imagine a different working environment where I would find the IDE tooling much more valuable, but it's not what I work on now.

VS code being a worse IDE is, for me, a feature.

You _briefly_ used both of these and found JetBrains to be _personally_ better, then follow up by asking why not just use a "good IDE?"

The simplest response with a similar level of effort is - I disagree with you and find VS Code to be an effective IDE.

Valid point. :)

It's fast enough and has enough plugins to work with whatever file you want. And it doesn't cost money like Sublime or look like it was designed in 1998 like Notepad++. If it's not a conf file which is easy enough to do in nano/vim, it's vscode for me.

Use a netbook and open a couple 2k line sources and see if you feel the same way...

2k, probably not much issue... though, last time I used a netbook (I used one as my main mobile for a few years after my last mbp was stolen). Mostly just RDP to my actual desktop for anything beyond basic web stuff, which was a pretty decent experience all things considered.

Well sure. But every piece of software doesn't need to cater for low power computers.

https://medium.com/commitlog/electron-is-cancer-b066108e6c32

Probably valid points about RAM. But in the end, productivity is all that matters, after all. If electron app will be slow, you won't be productive and will probably not use the software.

I cannot see being productive in Notepad++ as I am with Code.

I cannot say that VS Code is slow. Yes, for quick viewing random files, I prefer to open in Notepad++ which is already opened and opens new files instantly. VS Code I prefer for projects, but sometimes ad-hoc files too.

... And VS Code blows Atom out of the water.

Don't know about Sublime (haven't used it), but comparing VS Code to Notepad++ is comparing apples to oranges. We eat both, but we don't substitute one with another.

Personally I found the intellisense stuff in VSCode way, way, way better than sublime, even if it was just the UI. Its been a while but for sublime I think the intellisense was just displayed down in the bottom toolbar. VSCode has a proper GUI that makes coding a pleasure.

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