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Microsoft Refuses to Open Source VSCode Python Language Server

by cjv on 1/10/21, 8:05 PM with 145 comments

by Xavdidtheshadow on 1/10/21, 8:44 PM
This title is inaccurate.
The language server _is_ open source, and is available here: https://github.com/microsoft/python-language-server. This is the default one VSCode ships with.
This issue is filed on Pylance, a new (released June 2020) language server that's currently still in beta (announcement: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/python/announcing-pylance-fas...).
Also, like the contributor notes, a lot of the "secret sauce" in Pylance is part of the open source Pyright typechecker: https://github.com/microsoft/pyright.
by Barrin92 on 1/10/21, 8:41 PM
Almost the entire thread seems like a case of "give them a finger and they'll take the whole hand"
Microsoft is a profit driven business, it never committed to open-sourcing every piece of software it writes, of course they're trying to somehow make money with VSCode, because it costs money to develop it.
If you don't like it choose another one of the billion text editors and IDEs that exist or write a competitive language server, but nobody 'lured you in' or is extinguishing anyone.
by ipsum2 on 1/10/21, 8:27 PM
In addition, Microsoft refuses to open source their remote VS Code implementation: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-remote-release
See issue: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-remote-release/issues/17...
by saagarjha on 1/10/21, 8:19 PM
I hate to bring out the old “embrace, extend, extinguish” argument, but I honestly can’t think of any other reason for this. Visual Studio Code has gotten really popular lately, but I think very few people realize that many parts of it are closed source. And you can’t take extensions from the Microsoft store and use them in your own editor…this just seems designed to get people to use your editor, give them enough source so you can claim it’s hackable, but prevent any other editor from reusing it. That doesn’t sound very open at all.
Actually, in this specific case, it really hurts, because Microsoft had been the one pushing for LSP to enable reusability and interoperability. You can’t take M*N to M+N if every editor refuses to let their implementation be used by anyone else. Honestly, Microsoft, what are you getting from taking a bunch of open source code and making the good bits proprietary, and then sabotaging your own messaging around standards that you want adopted? Because I can’t see any reason why you have to do this :/
by danielovichdk on 1/10/21, 8:32 PM
I have pretty much respect for Microsoft for open sourcing a lot of things and changing their culture for the better.
Don't have anything against them having closed sourced applications, frameworks or languages.
You cannot ask for everything all the time.
by Lunrtick on 1/10/21, 8:35 PM
I don't mind this too much, to be honest, though I would prefer it if they open sourced it with licence based restrictions.
They're not open sourcing Pylance, which has some really nice features. The ones I mainly use are the semantic highlighting (it colours variables etc based on their type), and the auto imports (wow, I didn't realise how much I missed that).
However, those are just sugary extras, the real benefit is the typescript based type analysis. This can be had using the open sourced pyright extension.
by heavyset_go on 1/10/21, 9:12 PM
If you're looking for an open source Python language server, check out `python-language-server`[1].
It's released under the MIT license, and works pretty well. While it's maintained by Palantir, it works well for me, so take from that what you will.
[1] https://github.com/palantir/python-language-server
by agrue on 1/10/21, 8:37 PM
Microsoft is pro open source when it suits them.
If there were in it for the long haul we would see things like Office for linux. Instead we see WSL.
One or two CEO changes and they'll be back to litigation for patent infringement.
by Grimm1 on 1/10/21, 8:33 PM
They've put a lot of work including some interesting ML work to my knowledge into the python language server. I wonder if it's that latter part that makes them cagey about open sourcing it.
by beagle3 on 1/10/21, 9:16 PM
VSCode was likely open sourced at all (in a limited way) because they were legally required to, having decided to use LGPLd WebKit/Blink; and their use of V8/Electron probably promoted this as well, even though that wasn’t mandated by the Apache/MIT license.
However, it is quite clear now that it is not because they want to “support the open source / free software world”. (And to some of us, this has been clear since day 1)
“New Microsoft”... if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell.
by Thristle on 1/10/21, 8:47 PM
How can you blame them for not making the only edge (that, and the type checker) they have over pycharm in terms of language support?
M$ wants VSC users and python users will go where the best language support is, pycharm has a lot of cool/good features but they don't have all of them.
by teddyh on 1/10/21, 8:27 PM
> @microsoft microsoft locked as resolved and limited conversation to collaborators on Jul 17, 2020
by kam on 1/10/21, 8:44 PM
Pylance is built on their open source Pyright library, which is also available as a VSCode extension. I'm just using Pyright instead and don't seem to be missing out on anything important.
https://github.com/microsoft/pyright
by thecrumb on 1/10/21, 8:25 PM
Microsoft looks at recent language survey lists, sees Python on top and wants to make money. They are only 'open' if it benefits them, not us.
by dgellow on 1/10/21, 8:43 PM
Not sure what’s the issue here. If they don’t feel like open sourcing this specific piece of software, that’s their right. They are already one of the largest contributor of open source software in the world.
by qpiox on 1/10/21, 9:24 PM
I think it's normal to want to make money of software. I do and many others do.
The problem point here is when some company is using misleading campaigns about openness and long-term bait and lock-in scenarios. You take-out openness and liberty piece by piece, giving the public simple and cheap but closed solutions as bait.
Anyone who has invested significant resources to migrate to the new tool will not switch to another new tool so easily. So one by one they swallow the bait, piece by piece, and in the end are locked-in.
by tonymet on 1/10/21, 8:53 PM
Refuses? How about “hasn’t yet” , or “has decided against?”
by maximilianroos on 1/10/21, 8:44 PM
Why are people so much more upset about this relative to MS not open-sourcing their other products?
Is it that it's free? If Microsoft _sold_ a more advanced Python LSP, would that receive as many complaints?
by muglug on 1/10/21, 9:26 PM
Having written a language server for PHP, I can tell you it's damn hard – I don't begrudge Microsoft's behaviour here at all.
by jcelerier on 1/10/21, 8:57 PM
I still don't understand how they can get away with this given that VSCode is based on Blink which is LGPL
by teekert on 1/10/21, 8:50 PM
Not sure if related but I installed vscodium because everyone said it's vscode with the tracking disabled. Except there is no remote-ssh plugin. I live in that plugin. It worries me a bit although I know I'll find something new when I starts to bite me.
by voxl on 1/10/21, 8:25 PM
God forbid developers and companies try to make money off their work!
by jpalomaki on 1/10/21, 8:29 PM
I would imagine the threat for Microsoft is Amazon picking up what they have done and using it to compete against Azure.
by dschuetz on 1/10/21, 8:53 PM
TLDR: I am not surprised.
A couple of years ago everybody was over VSC like flies, loving it, because it's open source and runs everywhere. I was in the minority of skeptics who predicted that kind of move.
And now, once again, Microsoft proved that they only care for OSS, and created VSC, because it enabled them to spy on coders and their code to develop proprietary and closed sourced spins for software development product. The OSS community got served. Well done.