this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2024
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Vscode remote ssh is clever, to be clear, and in many cases is ideal. But it seems to me that they really need to ship an out-of-the-box extension that does edit over sftp with local caching as a fallback option. Notepad++ does this and it's great.
I know that there are a bunch of 3rd party extensions that seem to do this but most seem a little bit janky as you dig in to it. This needs to be an official Microsoft extension.
In general, I don't want my IDE running or depositing anything on my servers that I haven't explicitly asked for, especially if a main goal is to simply edit config files easily via a familiar editor application. Basically a 'leave no trace' philosophy (for the sake of predictability, consistency and control, not for any nefarious reasons).
(that said, remote ssh with vscode server is fantastic - but only when I actually want it).
Yeah, when I switched to vscode and realized what was going on, I got a bit uncomfortable.
… but I sided with convenience.
Not being able to see the source code of extensions, and having them loaded and executing remotely really ought to be a non-starter, but for some reason we find ourselves ok with this?
Maybe there are checks and balances? I really don't know - but I certainly don't know what they are.
I'm actively exploring alternative cross-platform editors for this and other vscode usability reasons.
I'm using VSCodium. It's just like VSCode just without the telemetry.
It's a good idea. But fundamentally, it suffers from the same (other) issues as vscode itself.
Oh dang I thought I was safe using codium. What other problems should I be aware of?
AFAIK, the only difference between codium and vscode is that telemetry is stripped out. I haven't used it, but I imagine it's great. It works the same as vscode in other respects. (unless someone corrects me here).
The main issues I have with the vscode/codium approach is that remote ssh works by installing and executing a server at the remote location (including installation of extensions).
To me, this is convenient but risky - it necessitates prerequisites on the remote server (which caused issues for older server installs), it leaves stuff behind on the remote (if you just want to edit a config why would you want to litter the remote server?). Fundamentally I'm not sure why this isn't a very, very serious potential vector for malware - others can correct me. Do you want to inadvertently put 3rd party nice-to-have extensions written by just anyone running remotely?
They could mitigate this by having an official extension than has an option to do simple sftp access with local caching (as is done with many other editors like UEdit, npp, mc, vim, etc...). Most 3rd party extensions for this that I've seen seem very janky. It begs for something official.
My other issues with vscode are subjective - it lacks virtual space editing, and, frankly the whole thing is a bit slow for me. Again, this is subjective.
There's also proprietary packages that don't work with vscodium, like Microsoft's pylint or something I forget, but I had to go to great lengths to get features like refactoring and auto formatting in my python files after switching to vscodium.
Oh I don't use remote server within my ide. If I wanna push code or files I just use a git repo.
This is good to know. As I say, I haven't tried codium, but I'm not surprised there are glitches.
I hear you wrt avoiding remote server, but for me, it begs the question of whether I want to learn more than one tool/editor? If I use vscode, I'd have to pull the files up and down, but if I use an alternative IDE, I can do it all in one step. If it's a good IDE then why do I want vscode in the first place?
A official sftp caching package might be enough to keep me in vscode (though I'm still not sure what I want to do).
I just find it bewildering that the IDE would so nonchalantly install sh!t on remote servers when you just want to edit a config. Any other tool where something is to get installed remotely makes it abundantly clear what's happening and it's a very conscious decision to do an install.
Not sure why people aren't up in arms about this approach. Unless I'm missing something (and I may well be).
It's not glitches, it's M$ intentionally making their python language server only work with proprietary vscode
@indigomirage Neovim ? (there are pre-configured #neovim based IDEs with every fancy thing such as Nvim-Chad)
For sure - but it's a matter of getting accustomed to vi. I also prefer to really understand what each add on does. Not ruling out pre-packaged, but am working through assembling my own config first.
And then there's learning vi (I can use it, it's just not yet second nature).
@indigomirage Always better to do so, I just included a mention of the pre-built IDEs because it can be a hassle to set up and prevent people from trying
When MS killed Atom we forked it as Pulsar (https://pulsar-edit.dev/). It is under active development, entirely community-led and everything is as open and transparent as possible. We have downloads for various Linux distros (x86 and arm), macOS and Windows. Might be worth a look if that is the kind of editor you are interested in.
Excellent - I was not aware!
Find anything? I hear Nova is okay but it’s Mac only.
My go-to ages ago was UltraEdit. But I am not sure I want to fork over the cash. I'm contemplating Sublime. But I'm kind of diving into NeoVim to see if I can get used to it (vi isn't natural for me at this time). It has the potential advantage of being terminal based and is therefore very portable. There are a ton of great modules and it is very activately being improved.
The killer feature that UltraEdit and Notepad++ have is virtual space (ie you can extend vertical blocks over lines that are shorter that the cursor position and it'll automatically extend the line with white space. For SQL (and other things) this is a godsend for right aligned right brackets etc. (oh Geany does this too but it's a very janky feeling application.)
Sublime doesn't have it. Vscode ignores ongoing pleas to add it. Not sure NeoVim will have it, but there's no cost to me for trying.
The main things holding me back from UEdit are cost, and he fact that UEStudio is windows only. Not being terminal based is also a strike against it, but not a showstopper. It's just too much money when an employer isn't paying.
I know emacs exists but it's too deep a rabbit hole when I just want a go to edit text with a few minor bells and whistles...
For neovim check out mini.align
I'll look, though at first blush it looks like an exceedingly complicated way to just simply select beyond line endings and have white space automatically padded when typing in at the (multi) cursor.
It might be great though - I need to try. (and I do recognize that there are many ways to do things)
I have to say Ultra Edit sites this so well (so does Visual Studio and MSSQL Management Studio). Maybe it's a wierd feature want, but I'm not so sure...
Sublimetext technically fits the bill for this I think, but its feeling a bit long in the tooth.
I actually like sublime but the lack of virtual space for block selection (for a paid editor) moved out way down the list for me.
The plugins feel a bit janky and sparse too.l and the ecosystem feels a bit deserted.