**This is not a fork. This is a repository of scripts to automatically build Microsoft's `vscode` repository into freely-licensed binaries with a community-driven default configuration.**
_Note: if you see "App can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer" when opening VSCodium the first time, you can right-click the application and choose Open. This should only be required the first time opening on a Mac._
You can always install using the downloads (deb, rpm, tar) on the [releases page](https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodium/releases), but you can also install using your favorite package manager and get automatic updates. [@paulcarroty](https://github.com/paulcarroty) has set up a repository with instructions [here](https://gitlab.com/paulcarroty/vscodium-deb-rpm-repo). Any issues installing VSCodium using your package manager should be directed to that repository's issue tracker.
VSCodium is available in [AUR](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_User_Repository) as package [vscodium-bin](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/vscodium-bin/), maintained by [@plague-doctor](https://github.com/plague-doctor).
VSCodium is not available as a Flatpak app, but [@amtlib-dot-dll](https://github.com/amtlib-dot-dll) has done significant work to package up the open source build of Visual Studio Code without telemetry, very similarly to VSCodium. That package is available [here](https://flathub.org/apps/details/com.visualstudio.code.oss) and the build repo is [here](https://github.com/flathub/com.visualstudio.code.oss).
This repository contains build files to generate free release binaries of Microsoft's VSCode. When we speak of "free software", we're talking about freedom, not price.
Microsoft's downloads of Visual Studio Code are licensed under [this not-FLOSS license](https://code.visualstudio.com/license) and contain telemetry/tracking. According to [this comment](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/60#issuecomment-161792005) from a Visual Studio Code maintainer:
> When we [Microsoft] build Visual Studio Code, we do exactly this. We clone the vscode repository, we lay down a customized product.json that has Microsoft specific functionality (telemetry, gallery, logo, etc.), and then produce a build that we release under our license.
>
> When you clone and build from the vscode repo, none of these endpoints are configured in the default product.json. Therefore, you generate a "clean" build, without the Microsoft customizations, which is by default licensed under the MIT license
This repo exists so that you don't have to download+build from source. The build scripts in this repo clone Microsoft's vscode repo, run the build commands, and upload the resulting binaries to [GitHub releases](https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodium/releases). __These binaries are licensed under the MIT license. Telemetry is disabled.__
If you want to build from source yourself, head over to [Microsoft's vscode repo](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode) and follow their [instructions](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/wiki/How-to-Contribute#build-and-run). This repo exists to make it easier to get the latest version of MIT-licensed VSCode.
Microsoft's build process does download additional files. This was brought up in [Microsoft/vscode#49159](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/49159) and [Microsoft/vscode#45978](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/45978). These are the packages downloaded during build:
- Extensions from the Microsoft Marketplace:
- ms-vscode.node-debug2
- ms-vscode.node-debug
- From [Electron releases](https://github.com/electron/electron/releases) (using [gulp-atom-electron](https://github.com/joaomoreno/gulp-atom-electron))
For more information on getting all the telemetry disabled and tips for migrating from Visual Studio Code to VSCodium, have a look at this [Docs](https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodium/blob/master/DOCS.md) page.
Please note that some Visual Studio Code extensions have licenses that restrict their use to the official Visual Studio Code builds and therefore do not work with VSCodium. See [this note](https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodium/blob/master/DOCS.md#proprietary-debugging-tools) on the Docs page for what's been found so far and possible workarounds.
