Microsoft has made changes to the binary builds of the Microsoft C/C++ Extension (ms-vscode.cpptools), blocking its functionality in forks of the open-source code editor VS Code (Visual Studio Code). The extension is proprietary and is used to add support for C/C++ languages in VS Code. After updating to version 1.24.5, users of the VS Codium and Cursor editors, which are based on the VS Code code, encountered issues preventing further use of the Microsoft addon.
The initialization of the addon failed with an error notifying that the Microsoft C/C++ Extension package can only be used in Microsoft Visual Studio, Visual Studio for Mac, Visual Studio Code, Azure DevOps, Team Foundation Server, and related Microsoft products and services. To resume working with C/C++ projects, users are forced to roll back to an older version and disable automatic addon installation in the settings.
Previously, Microsoft added a license agreement in September 2020 prohibiting the use of binary builds of the addon in third-party products. Until now, this requirement was largely formal and did not lead to blocking. Additionally, the terms of use of the VS Code addon store prohibited connections from forks, but the Cursor fork developers used a reverse proxy to bypass this restriction.
Part of the Microsoft C/C++ Extension code remains under the MIT license, and the restrictions apply only to extended binary builds distributed through the Microsoft app store under a separate proprietary license. Only the TypeScript component is open-source, while the core Runtime functionality is proprietary and provided in binary form.
The Cursor project developers have released an update that temporarily resolves the issue and have decided to stop using proprietary addons such as Remote access, Pylance, C/C++, and C#. In the next version, they plan to include community-developed open-source alternatives. A similar transition to open-source alternatives is also planned by the VS Codium project developers.
Source: opennet.ru
