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VSCodium: Binary releases of VSCode without MS branding, telemetry and licensing

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Re: VSCodium: Binary releases of VSCode without MS branding, telemetry and licensing

#21

Post by jillesvangurp »

Dinux wrote: post #2

I don't see the beneficial element to this project. Visual Studio Code is opensource, free of charge and used by millions at this point, why would anyone want another license just because of the license alone?

The source license and binary distribution license are different. The source code is MIT licensed; nothing wrong with that. Great license for this. The binaries are provided with a different license that also covers components from third parties that may not be in the vs code repo as well as telemetry and other data gathered.

If for whatever reason you don't like this license, you can build from source. This project seems to do that and remove all of the MS branding and telemetry. There are only a handful of commits on the project so it does not look like it is massive change. The big question is whether that adds enough value and whether this project will make enough effort to keep it's fork up to date.

I agree that for the vast majority of users, using the official binaries should be perfectly fine. MS did a fine job with this product. But nothing wrong with having the choice.

Re: VSCodium: Binary releases of VSCode without MS branding, telemetry and licensing

#22

Post by kowdermeister »

H̶m̶m̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶f̶l̶y̶ ̶:̶)̶ ̶

I̶'̶m̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶t̶t̶y̶ ̶s̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶s̶t̶r̶i̶p̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶c̶e̶n̶s̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶o̶f̶t̶w̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶e̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶r̶m̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶i̶s̶h̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶.̶ ̶ ̶h̶t̶t̶p̶s̶:̶/̶/̶c̶o̶d̶e̶.̶v̶i̶s̶u̶a̶l̶s̶t̶u̶d̶i̶o̶.̶c̶o̶m̶/̶l̶i̶c̶e̶n̶s̶e̶ ̶ ̶"̶Y̶o̶u̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶.̶.̶.̶ ̶s̶h̶a̶r̶e̶,̶ ̶p̶u̶b̶l̶i̶s̶h̶,̶ ̶r̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶o̶f̶t̶w̶a̶r̶e̶,̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶v̶i̶d̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶o̶f̶t̶w̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶n̶d̶-̶a̶l̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶e̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶.̶"̶ ̶ ̶A̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶l̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶d̶m̶e̶ ̶:̶)̶ ̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶r̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶i̶r̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶f̶i̶n̶e̶.̶

EDIT: thanks for pointing out that the license is not changed :)

Re: VSCodium: Binary releases of VSCode without MS branding, telemetry and licensing

#23

Post by chii »

Zekio wrote: post #12
immigrantsheep wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK telemetry can be disabled with "telemetry.enableTelemetry": false

isn't it agains't GDPR having it be like that?

wouldn't downloading and agreeing to the eula suffice for purposes of this?

Re: VSCodium: Binary releases of VSCode without MS branding, telemetry and licensing

#24

Post by hiccuphippo »

kowdermeister wrote: post #22

H̶m̶m̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶f̶l̶y̶ ̶:̶)̶ ̶ I̶'̶m̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶t̶t̶y̶ ̶s̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶s̶t̶r̶i̶p̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶c̶e̶n̶s̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶o̶f̶t̶w̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶e̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶r̶m̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶i̶s̶h̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶.̶ ̶ ̶h̶t̶t̶p̶s̶:̶/̶/̶c̶o̶d̶e̶.̶v̶i̶s̶u̶a̶l̶s̶t̶u̶d̶i̶o̶.̶c̶o̶m̶/̶l̶i̶c̶e̶n̶s̶e̶ ̶ ̶"̶Y̶o̶u̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶.̶.̶.̶ ̶s̶h̶a̶r̶e̶,̶ ̶p̶u̶b̶l̶i̶s̶h̶,̶ ̶r…

That's the license for Microsoft's binary build. The source code is MIT and this build is from the source code.

Re: VSCodium: Binary releases of VSCode without MS branding, telemetry and licensing

#25

Post by lucideer »

lucideer wrote: post #11
carlmr wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't it suffice to set the following in your User Settings? "telemetry.enableTelemetry": false Honestly I'm very happy to give telemetry data. Microsoft is doing so much to improve the experience, they can make it better with some data.

This doesn't suffice unfortunately. That setting has worked inconsistently, or not at all, and add far as I've seen in my own testing it never disables all telemetry. There have been issues open on GitHub about this for a long time, though it's a few months since I checked there for updates (I stopped bothering and just put it in my firewall rules; I still see blocked connections in thy log today). I'm a very happy v…

> @bunderbunder I bet it's still nothing compared to the level of data collection that a typical website does these days.

I'd say the opposite. Consider that (a) you typically visit websites briefly and periodically while most vscode users have it open as long as their computer is on, and (b) Electron provides access to lot more device data than the browser sandbox. The reason websites tend to have such far-reaching and devious user-tracking methods is because they're working in such a restricted environment and have to innovate; native desktop apps have far less restrictions.

Re: VSCodium: Binary releases of VSCode without MS branding, telemetry and licensing

#26

Post by rootlocus »

kowdermeister wrote: post #22

H̶m̶m̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶f̶l̶y̶ ̶:̶)̶ ̶ I̶'̶m̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶t̶t̶y̶ ̶s̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶s̶t̶r̶i̶p̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶c̶e̶n̶s̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶o̶f̶t̶w̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶e̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶r̶m̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶i̶s̶h̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶.̶ ̶ ̶h̶t̶t̶p̶s̶:̶/̶/̶c̶o̶d̶e̶.̶v̶i̶s̶u̶a̶l̶s̶t̶u̶d̶i̶o̶.̶c̶o̶m̶/̶l̶i̶c̶e̶n̶s̶e̶ ̶ ̶"̶Y̶o̶u̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶.̶.̶.̶ ̶s̶h̶a̶r̶e̶,̶ ̶p̶u̶b̶l̶i̶s̶h̶,̶ ̶r…

According to https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/60#issuecomment-1...

> The cool thing about all of this is that you have the choice to use the Visual Studio Code branded product under our license or you can build a version of the tool straight from the vscode repository, under the MIT license.

Re: VSCodium: Binary releases of VSCode without MS branding, telemetry and licensing

#27

Post by detaro »

kowdermeister wrote: post #22

H̶m̶m̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶f̶l̶y̶ ̶:̶)̶ ̶ I̶'̶m̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶t̶t̶y̶ ̶s̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶s̶t̶r̶i̶p̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶c̶e̶n̶s̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶o̶f̶t̶w̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶e̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶r̶m̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶i̶s̶h̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶.̶ ̶ ̶h̶t̶t̶p̶s̶:̶/̶/̶c̶o̶d̶e̶.̶v̶i̶s̶u̶a̶l̶s̶t̶u̶d̶i̶o̶.̶c̶o̶m̶/̶l̶i̶c̶e̶n̶s̶e̶ ̶ ̶"̶Y̶o̶u̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶.̶.̶.̶ ̶s̶h̶a̶r̶e̶,̶ ̶p̶u̶b̶l̶i̶s̶h̶,̶ ̶r…

That's the license for the executable you download there, not the code.

Re: VSCodium: Binary releases of VSCode without MS branding, telemetry and licensing

#28

Post by jonathonf »

Zekio wrote: post #12
immigrantsheep wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK telemetry can be disabled with "telemetry.enableTelemetry": false

isn't it agains't GDPR having it be like that?

An opt-in is required under GDPR for personally identifiable information, not "any data ever".

Anonymous/aggregated data collection is allowed under the GDPR, though this data collection should still be made clear to the user (and it is on https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/supporting/FAQ#_gdpr-and-...).

Re: VSCodium: Binary releases of VSCode without MS branding, telemetry and licensing

#30

Post by [deleted] »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #21
Dinux wrote: post #2

I don't see the beneficial element to this project. Visual Studio Code is opensource, free of charge and used by millions at this point, why would anyone want another license just because of the license alone?

The source license and binary distribution license are different. The source code is MIT licensed; nothing wrong with that. Great license for this. The binaries are provided with a different license that also covers components from third parties that may not be in the vs code repo as well as telemetry and other data gathered. If for whatever reason you don't like this license, you can build from source. This project…

[deleted]
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