> ..VSCode is spyware
As a daily user of the editor, I'd be curious to hear more. To be honest, it's become an essential tool, and would be a challenge to replace. It's quite excellent.
I know it's funded by Microsoft, whose operating system I'd consider as a kind of spyware these days. But for VS Code, aside from the opt-in telemetry, and the fact that it's built on Chromium, funded by an advertising giant who thrives on invasion of privacy, is there evidence to justify calling it a "spyware"?
OK, I admit that whole question might be an answer to itself..
Several other plugins serve as telemetry even if not explicitly intended as such. Other extensions that have their own telemetry generally ignore the telemetry setting on the editor itself.
One such example:
Have you tried Webstorm? I am using VSCode for a company project because the team agreed that we all use the same tools. Privately I am using WebStorm, and I like it much, much better. It feels so much more integrated, and all those inspections, refactoring, diff features make it the best web development tool currently available IMO.
Re:Editor Overload
by wastedhours on Friday August 28, 2020 @07:48AM
(#24303752)
Could you not also use one of the open binaries of VSCode with the telemetry removed? https://vscodium.com/ or build from source (with reference that the Microsoft specific functionality is not present: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/60#issuecomment-1...)
Re:Editor Overload
by slightwinder on Friday August 28, 2020 @08:46AM
(#24304186)
> VSCode is spyware
Not if you deactivate telemetry.
Text editing is one place I’ll absolutely never use nonfree software. In addition to the privacy concerns (my editor has the highest security requirements of any software I run), it’s also my most-used tool, and, as such, must always be able to be inspected and modified, as it is an extension of my muscle memory.
You might lock me into a cloud or an API, but my most critical tools that take up the deep parts of my habits will remain under my control.