this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2025
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So wait.
GitHub is Microsoft?
EDIT: Okay, fuck that. I was just getting all set up there but not now.
I am trying to decide between PyCharm and VS Code for my Python IDE. I was leaning toward VS Code, but they're Microsoft too, aren't they?
Stop it
Oh come on, it was a really big deal. M$ bought GitHub. FOSS collectively shit itself for a week
Github was bought in 2018. For all we know, OP could have been 10 at the time
OP said they were 63 and only now getting into programming. I can understand not knowing these things tbh.
It was also ages ago. Any discussion of it will have long since died down so if OP is new to programming then they won't have come across this.
Continue.
Has been since 2018, and acquisition news caused quite an upset at the time.
Yeah they bought them almost 10 years now?
VS Code has a fully open source base which excludes proprietary extensions and default telemetry ( kind of how AOSP is for Android)
Check here for more info:
https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/wiki/Differences-between-the-repository-and-Visual-Studio-Code
And VSCodium is the project that releases builds from the VS Code source code. Privacy-conscious developers should use VSCodium (which is fully FOSS) instead of Visual Studio Code (which is partially proprietary and includes tracking).
100%
I use this on my private setup, but struggling to get tge Python language server to properly work. Apprently the VS Code one is unavailable. What do people use for this on VS Codium?
https://9to5google.com/2025/03/28/google-android-aosp-changes-announcement/
I know 😢 ~~is~~ was
I recommend Codeberg or Forgejo!
Yes, also remember to completely avoid Typescript and C# since they are also Microsoft. And Rust since heavy ties to Amazon. Don't look for a job on Linkedin (where most listings are posted) because that's also Microsoft. Actually, just to spare you the time, avoid programming altogether and do something like farming, since no Big Tech influence there. /s
I do like the work Microsoft has done with typescript itself, but more and more I'm seeing they are trying to tie up the language to VSCode, treating other editors as "second class citizens" for it and that has started to make me reconsider things.
I'm retired and doing hobby projects in Python and java, so I get choices (including not playing) but wtf, big tech figured out how to take over open source?
That's particularly evil.
A cynical explanation would be using the EEE theory to explain all of this.
A more nuanced one would be that corporations benefit from open source since it creates an easier pipeline to onboard engineers and they also benefit from the free labor that people put into the projects out of passion. Whether they want to kill OSS after embracing it is debatable, but they definitely want to have as much leverage on it as possible.
That Wikipedia is a gold mine of evil.
Python's creator and BDfL works at Microsoft.
I'm not trying to be like some HOLY MOUNTAIN that no unclean things can ever touch.
I'm just trying to keep myself free. I'll use people's stuff. If that starts becoming bondage, I'm out
They can support these languages because they have the resources to do so.
I feel like a good illustration would be a bicycle.
Is that about right? Are we selling open source for speed and convenience?
This, but unironically.
Might check out Zed. Relatively new editor from the folks behind Atom and treesitter. Extremely fast with an excellent interface and vim mode. The second best vim mode behind Neovim.
I've been testing Zed for the last couple weeks for some Vue / Nuxt projects. It works great for that and seems very stable so far, but is also developed by a for-profit. Curious to see how the Zedless project works out.
I actually think their comments when it first went open source are pretty compelling. I don’t disagree with you and I’m interested to see how zedless fares, but new projects of this scale are tough to do well and quickly. I’m pretty happy with their current approach.
Zed is great! Not as many features as IntelliJ, but insanely fast, and new features are being added all the time.
PyCharm is a solid choice. It just works. But if you’re open to another editor, take a look at Zed. It has python support too. It’s super snappy and way less bloated than the others.
If you like VSCode you can try VSCodium which supports almost all features of VSCode but should be fully FOSS without Microsoft proprietary blobs.
I’m also very new to doing any type of programming, and also don’t remember things from last week lol. I use Kate, it’s from KDE which is from the Linux world but works on windows! They have some other good programs that also work on windows (and Mac too I think!) if you’re trying to extract yourself from there. I don’t know python very well so don’t know if Kate is the best choice compared to PyCharm for your use case, but might be a good allrounder.
Can I suggest vim or emacs?
Maybe they are just getting started with learning programming, be kind.
Ding ding ding ding ding!
Like, just BRAND NEW, leaning baby programmer!
Nope, not that. Haven't earned the name 'programmer' at all.
Just a guy who is starting to learn and is probably going to abandon learning but is going to try anyway and is trying not to fuck up in the beginning! Guy.
Plus I'm 63. So learning anything at all is like nailing boards to sand.
Maybe I learned it, but that was last week. Can't expect me to remember last week shit.
If you want to use VSCode without the Microsoft bits, they actually provide that officially. VSCodium is VSCode with all the Microsoft-specific bits stripped out (or rather, not added in in the first place, at compile time). It's all open source too so you can either verify yourself or have a knowledgeable friend do an audit on your behalf.
I use VSCode at work a lot and enjoy it quite a bit. A good alternative would be to use Kate/Kwrite with all of the coding plugins and the linter plugins turned on, the experience is pretty close to VSCode/ium without store extensions.
Keep learning and asking questions! Maybe programming isn't something for you or maybe it'll be a big part of your life. You'll never know without giving it a try.
Please don't get discouraged by the curmudgeons. Not all of us experienced in the field have given into grouchiness.