Install VSCodium

What VSCodium is

The same code editor as Visual Studio Code, built from the same open source code, but without the collection of usage data that Microsoft adds to its own finished version. The look is identical, the keyboard shortcuts are identical, and almost all extensions work.

The difference is not the features but what leaves the computer. Microsoft releases the code openly and then builds its product from it with a few additions of its own, including telemetry. VSCodium builds the same code without those additions.

For a company this is relevant for a practical reason more than a matter of principle: if you are going to state in your privacy policy what you use and what is passed on, it is easier to answer when the answer is nothing.

Windows

Open PowerShell and run:

winget install vscodium

With Chocolatey the command is choco install vscodium. With Scoop you first add the right bucket, scoop bucket add extras, and then run scoop install vscodium. You can also download a regular installer from vscodium.com if you prefer to click.

Linux Mint

The program is in its own package repository that you add once. Open Terminal and run the lines in order:

wget -qO - https://gitlab.com/paulcarroty/vscodium-deb-rpm-repo/raw/master/pub.gpg | gpg --dearmor | sudo dd of=/usr/share/keyrings/vscodium-archive-keyring.gpg
echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/vscodium-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.vscodium.com/debs vscodium main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscodium.list
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install codium

The first line fetches the key that lets the system trust the repository. The second line tells it where the repository is. The third installs. You then start the program with codium, or from the menu like any other program.

Three things to do first

1. Install a language extension for what you actually write, for example Python or PHP. You reach the extensions with Ctrl and Shift and X, or by clicking the square on the left edge. The editor becomes a different product with the right extensions in place. Without them it is a text box with colors.
2. Press Ctrl and Shift and P. That opens the command palette, the search box for everything the program can do. You never need to look through menus again, and it is the only keyboard shortcut worth learning by heart.
3. Open the whole project folder instead of single files. The menus are in English from the start, so the path is File and Open Folder. Then search works across all files, and that is the difference between an editor and a notepad. There is no Swedish language pack, neither from Microsoft nor on Open VSX, so expect English menus.

The most common trap

Looking for an extension that cannot be installed. VSCodium fetches extensions from Open VSX instead of from Microsoft's own store, because the terms for that store only allow Microsoft's own products. Most extensions are available in both places, but a few are only available from Microsoft, and those are missing here.

You notice it when the search gives no results at all, even though the extension clearly exists. Then it is not you who is searching wrong.

The solution is to look for an open source equivalent, which almost always exists. If you need a specific extension that only Microsoft has, use their version of the editor for that work. Both can be installed at the same time without conflicting.