903: Fork Yeah! Microsoft open sourcing Copilot

Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

Scott and Wes are joined by Erich Gamma, creator of VS Code, and Kai Maetzel, Copilot Lead, to share some big news about the future of VS Code and Copilot. They discuss what it means for developers, how AI is shaping the future of coding, and why staying open to the community is key.

Show Notes

• 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
• 01:00 The inception of VS Code.
• 02:49 VS Code adoption.
• 04:31 Brought to you by Sentry.io.
• 04:55 Syntax Denver Meetup!
• 05:19 The big announcement.
• 06:25 The current state of Copilot and VS Code.
• 08:31 The challenges with LLMs running outside of the codebase.
• 09:31 How to make a business case for AI.
• 10:47 The maturing of the AI landscape.
• 13:01 The limitations of extensions.
• 14:06 Open source vs closed source.
• 14:49 Copilot’s context is public.
• 19:23 Is context language-specific?
• 21:23 How does this affect paid Copilot features?
• 23:27 Secrets of Copilot’s server-side.
• 28:36 What will be open and what will not?
• 29:03 Is Copilot’s UI influenced by VS Code forks?
• 31:31 Maintaining VS Code identity in forks.
• 33:07 What does open-sourcing GitHub Copilot mean for Cursor and Windsurf?
• 38:42 Were you surprised to see VS Code forks?
• 40:03 Are other extensions able to tap into the AI offerings?
• 43:20 There’s work to be done.
• 44:13 The timeline.
• 45:39 Simulation Tests (S Tests).
• 48:07 How to test LLMs.
• 49:10 The future of software development with AI.
• 52:47 What’s your favorite model?

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