Discussion
People are slowly realizing that Android only weaponized open source licenses but was always meant to be a captive platform, like people are slowly realizing that VS Code has open source code but is a captive platform.
Open source licences are not enough. They’re regularly weaponized as a tech enthusiast trap.
@thibaultamartin
Very good point. Thank you.
What do you suggest? Anti capitalist license or something entirely different?
@thibaultamartin and Open Educational Resources.... yea, that too.
If people are enthusiastic about leaving VS Code but don't know what to try next, I wrote about how things went for me with Helix.
The 80s called. They want to give us our freedom back.
From VS Code to Helix
@thibaultamartin I love helix, but it does have a steeper learning curve than graphical editors. What I desperately wish we had is a graphical code editor with similar dedication to open source.
I actually made a similar post the other day about the same topic: https://mastodon.social/@ryanabx/115458855145285995
@thibaultamartin vscodium is an option
@thibaultamartin I was reluctant to switch to Helix. I used Vim because it was an alternative to VS Code, and I was never in it for the modal editing; I found that aspect bad, so Helix wouldn't be the right editor for me.
Oh I was wrong. It's dream editor come true, and its modal editing is done really well.
@thibaultamartin licenses might not be enough, but at least one could use a stronger copyleft license like #GPL, which protects against more types of #enshittification than weaker permissive licenses. Which is why those #bigtech companies are scared to use them.
@thibaultamartin In terms of VSCode there is a solution to this: https://github.com/VSCodium
@ftranschel the problem is a bit more complex than releasing a binary of the OSS code :)
@thibaultamartin That's an absolutely fair stance to take.
As a somewhat OSS absolutist who thinks that AI coding will dumb you down, my outlook is not as bleak. This may be stupidly biased because as an academic practitioner I get everything I need from Codium, but I see lots of little aspects rippling against Microsoft and I think emerging extensions for fractured marketplaces will eventually even out due to all the people moving away from MS from the W11 fallout.
@thibaultamartin have you heard about chrome? The web is now (or since) a captive platform.
@thibaultamartin "Open source" is already a weaponization of free software.
@thibaultamartin As for VS Code, it never understood the love for it. Too many 3rd party plugins to do anything, and they killed performance for me. Jetbrains was the better option in virtually all cases, and worth the cash for the productivity gain.
@thibaultamartin as a preference I'll choose closed source over fake-open, which is why I left Android behind. I'd rather be told the truth - "no you can't have the source" - than accepting a false promise of being able to build and run it myself when that's impossible by design. I abhor the deception. Erecting walls around the 'open' garden was enough to make me jump. I'm not loving the alternative, but at least it's honest about what it is.
@thibaultamartin how is vs code a captive platform? (asking because I don't know. i use neovim and have never used vs code etc)
@gi124 most of the VS Code magic comes from a proprietary marketplace slapped on top of the OSS editor, and nobody but Microsoft can use it
@thibaultamartin I don't think that this is a particularly good take. Open source fundamentally means anyone can fork the source code and change it for any reason. Instead of VS Code, there's VS Codium. Instead of Android, there's a million alternatives BECAUSE it's open source.
I hate the direction that Google is taking to close down Android, but this has nothing to do with the license. In fact, it's the opposite.
@Fireforger @thibaultamartin million android alternatives…?
A crucial thing people missed:
Software shipped to the end device was *not* Open Source.
A space for Bonfire maintainers and contributors to communicate
