Editors & IDEs

The languages are installed, so now you need somewhere to write code. This chapter is about setting up editors on devserver, not about learning them: VS Code Essentials, Learning Vim and Text Editors & IDEs Survey already teach how to use the tools. Here we deal with the Debian-specific parts: where to get VS Code from, how to keep it updated, how to choose a default editor for the whole system, and how to record your extensions so a rebuild is painless.

What You Already Have

A Debian desktop already has nano, and you installed vim in Chapter 2. The last command shows where Debian's editor command currently points. That is the system's default terminal editor, which programs like Git and sudoedit call when they need you to type something. apt policy code will show nothing yet: VS Code is not in Debian's own repositories.

You do not have to choose one. A common pattern is VS Code for projects and a terminal editor for quick edits and for work over SSH. The rest of this chapter sets up that combination.

Installing VS Code from Microsoft's Repository

VS Code is Microsoft's program, not part of Debian, so you install it from Microsoft's own apt repository. That is a third-party repository: you are choosing to trust a company outside Debian to supply software that will run with your user's permissions, and to keep it updated. Linux Package Managers 3 explains what that trust involves, and Chapter 4 already showed you the same idea for the NVIDIA driver, though that one came from Debian. Do it deliberately, in three steps.

Step 1: Get Microsoft's signing key

This downloads Microsoft's public key and converts it into the binary format apt uses. Piping a downloaded key into gpg is not the same risk as piping a downloaded script into bash, because gpg --dearmor only converts data and does not run it. Still, apply the habit from Chapter 1 and look at what you have:

This prints the key's owner and fingerprint. Compare the fingerprint with the one published by Microsoft before you rely on it; a key you obtained over HTTPS from Microsoft's own site is reasonable to trust, but the check costs a minute.

Step 2: Add the repository

Create /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.sources in the same deb822 format you met in Chapter 2:

Read the Signed-By line carefully. It tells apt that packages from this repository must be signed by this key, and that this key is trusted for this repository only. That keeps Microsoft's key from vouching for anything else.

Step 3: Install

Then check it with the Chapter 3 tools:

Extensions and Settings

VS Code is only as useful as its extensions. You can install them from the command line, which is what makes them recordable:

Confirm each identifier in the extension marketplace before installing, because publishers rename things and this list is a starting point, not a guarantee. If a command reports that an extension was not found, search for it in VS Code's Extensions panel and copy the identifier from there.

Recording the list

Save the list now, and you can rebuild this part of the machine with one command later:

Choosing a Default Editor

Several programs, Git among them, open “the editor” when they need input from you. If that is not the editor you want, you will meet an unfamiliar interface at an awkward moment. Set it once. Debian keeps a system-wide choice, and you can override it for yourself:

Choose the editor you are most comfortable with in a terminal. If that is nano, use nano; the point is that it is a decision you made, not one that surprised you. Check it with git config --global --get core.editor and echo $EDITOR. If you would rather use VS Code for Git messages, git config --global core.editor "code --wait" works; the --wait makes Git pause until you close the file.

Which Tool for Which Job

Hands-On Exercises