I want to try this copilot thing in vscode.
But not #vscode. I use #codium instead.

I had it installed, but never got it working and now I try again and it's all borked.

I don't much like the current #AI bubble, but I have to keep up with my industry, especially in my advanced age (48). #ageism
The managers will promote the young college grads will over any old fart who is still shoeing their horses themselves.

What does this error mean?

Anyone on #lazyweb #lazymastodon?

@poleguy last i checked, nobody wanted to hire junior level devs because AI is supposed to take their jobs. it feels like a gold rush, but everybody's in the middle of arizona somewhere. panning for gold in unconfirmed hills.
when the bubble bursts, what's going to be the equivalent of the ghost town?
#ai #vscode
@poleguy did you ask AI /s

@madpilot Not yet. :-)

Let's try...

Dear #lazyai, can you tell me why #AI isn't working for me?

No? Why? Because #lazyai isn't a thing. The whole reason #lazyweb and #lazymastodon works is because of people. (Actually, that's also the whole reason #AI works also, but that's another story.)

Do you remember #VOIP? Voice-over-IP? I used to do IPOV: I'd call up a dorky friend who I knew was sitting next to a real computer and ask them for whatever I wanted: Way better than any digital assistant!

@madpilot I did just past the error info into chatgpt. It gave me only answers I already knew. Enabling microsoft marketplace, use alternatives, etc. Which I don't want to do.

No surprise.

I'm looking for a very specific answer that only somebody very dialed in would be able to surface.

But if I'm going to throw a long-shot into the void, I figured mastodon would be my best bet... or this github issue:

Here's the back story:

https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodium/discussions/1487

@poleguy Let me introduce you to http://zed.dev

OSS IDE, very similar in slyle to the vscode layout, unrelated codebase. Rust, very fast, lightweight , has Copilot integration (other agents/LLM providers too)

Zed — Love your editor again

Zed is a high-performance, multiplayer code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter.

Zed

@kfet the main reason I use vscode at all is that a lot of my teammates use it. I am happy with emacs and grep personally. But people look to me for answers on how to do stuff and I have to be able to show them how in the tool they are used to.
So I have little interest in a new editor unless it is already so popular that my whole team is already using it.

That said, zed looks cool enough.

@poleguy The trouble with VSCodium is that it has to use another "extension registry" than VSCode for legal reason. So some plugins (typically the Microsoft ones which phone back to Redmond) are not available in VSCode (that's the case of GitHub Copilot). The good news is that there are open alternatives ! I personnally use https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Continue.continue, which does a good job (and can work with ollama running on my machine, which is a must have for me)
Continue - open-source AI code agent - Visual Studio Marketplace

Extension for Visual Studio Code - The leading open-source AI code agent

@Riduidel I'm well aware. This "trouble" is exactly why I use VSCodium instead of VSCode.

I want to learn to use github copilot from microsoft because a manager I work with is pushing it heavily, and my company is paying for it. I don't particularly want to use it or support it long term or for my own work, but if I don't learn it and use it I won't be able to understand it deeply.

Without understanding it, it is hard to discuss and debate its merits.

Continue looks interesting. Terrible name

@poleguy *Every* IA product has a terrible name, maybe because they ask their fucking IA tools to choose their own name, and no fucking IA tool is able to say "I am god, how will you venerate me?"

@Riduidel I'm not sure if that's what's going on. It's hard for me to fathom these companies that can't realize that a tool name that can't be electronically searched for is not going to be great for discoverability.

The drug companies get it right. The drugs are named "white space" and "empty vessel" names.

Wegovy. Zepbound. Prozac. Cialis. Xeljanz. Benralizumab.

https://globalhealthnow.org/2024-07/why-do-prescription-drugs-have-such-crazy-names

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomenclature_of_monoclonal_antibodies

Why Do Prescription Drugs Have Such Crazy Names?

Rules, regulations, brand consultants, and AI all play a role in how drugs are named. 

Global Health NOW
@poleguy Yeah I won't die on that hill, but I think naming software with common names is a pure unimaginative/ivory tower reflection. The most typical exhibit being the Chef ecosystem. I frankly even prefer stupid acronyms.
@poleguy But I think there is a way to manually install a VSCode extension manually, no? (see https://stackoverflow.com/a/50232194/15619)
How can I install VS Code extension manually?

I am not able to download any extension via VS Code on my office system due to the proxy. Is there a way that I can do it manually by downloading and placing the downloaded files at the right place?

Stack Overflow

@Riduidel Yes. I ended up using an extension that lets me temporarily switch to the microsoft marketplace and back whenever I want.

I have it installed and running now, but I'm waiting for my corporate bureaucracy to eventually give me permission to use the tool they think is going to make everything more efficient. It won't, but it will cost a bunch of money finding that out. I'll burn some of that money for them to see how I like it.