> like requiring proprietary extensions to lock down the thing.

Which they are already doing in a lot of places. For instance, the VSCode Python extension replaced the open source language server with a proprietary rewrite (PyLance)[0]. They also have quite a few extensions that are proprietary, like LiveView.

And it's worth noting that those extensions explicitly forbid running in anything other than the official VSCode from Microsoft. Forks cannot legally run those extensions, and some of the extensions will have DRM to prevent it from happening[1].

[0]: https://www.reddit.com/r/Python/comments/n9yse1/as_of_today_...

[1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/k0s8qw/vs_code_devel...

nonethewiser

Which means it's not truly OSS. But I dont think its insidious for software to have good proprietary features that make the tool better.

madeofpalk

It means that there is a truly OSS core VS Code (presumably what Gitlab and Code Sandbox uses), and proprietary extensions on top that Microsoft ship in their default (proprietary) distribution

matkoniecz

If someone is a purist and wants to use it to avoid lock-in - it is available at https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodium