supertomcom

Just to be clear, I'm not the OP (meaning, video producer). I really don't think it matters that MSFT controls it, I use VSCode, and I like it.

But, I also understand that "well, you could just fork it" doesn't fix the problem the author brings up. Who owns the marketplace around VSCode? Who controls what is allowed in? What if MSFT decided to not allow GitLab extensions, or AWS extensions to further its own products? MSFT _has_ done these things in the past.

I'm just saying that handing the governorship of the project to an independent organization would address these issues. MSFT could still build and contribute to it, but the project direction, the telemetry, the ecosystem, could be managed by an independent agency, and that would solve the issues the OP has with the product.

No.

I'm advocating that Apache Foundation (or similar) oversee the direction of the project to ensure that equality is maintained

Well-produced. Don't really agree with the points the author is making, but see where they're coming from. Charging a fee won't solve the problem, though, they had the most expensive operating system in the world, but I won't get into the details on that, as I think it's the wrong approach.

Seems to me the "simple" fix here is for MSFT to hand vscode off to something like the Apache Foundation (independent organization) for management and oversight. The community could/should push for that to protect it's interests and then we can close this case.

Deal with it now. VCs: 1. Can sniff out drama 2. Want founders happy and productive, not in-fighting among the team

But, I'd also ask if you're being fair. IMO, technical people aren't the best at assessing non-technical people (I'm a technical person saying this). The spreadsheets might be wrong, but is PC landing all the deals and actually reason why investors are lined up to begin with? In other words, is PC any unique value, that can't be easily replaced (a "dealmaker" can't be replaced easily)?

Only you can answer that. If the answer is no, I vote to address this now. If they really are adding value (in the way that I described), then you might have to bring in help with the things they are not good at to supplement.