https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2024/02/vscode-drops-ubuntu-18-04-support-leaves-devs-screwed

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Visual Studio Code text editor in Ubuntu 23.10

Remote dev tools no longer work - but a warning would've been nice

VSCode Drops Ubuntu 18.04 Support, Devs Feel "Screwed"

[2623] by Joey Sneddon * Updated Thursday * Comment

Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code) has dropped support for Ubuntu
18.04 LTS -- a move causing issues for scores of developers.

VS Code 1.86 (aka the 'January 2024' update) saw Microsoft bump the
minimum build requirements for the text editor's popular remote dev
tools to >=glibc 2.28 -- but Ubuntu 18.04 LTS uses glibc 2.27, ergo
they no longer work.

While Ubuntu 18.04 is supported by Canonical until 2028 (through ESM)
a major glibc upgrade is unlikely.

Thus, this "breaking change" is truly breaking workflows:

    "Yeah this has completely screwed me. I have a number of older
    servers and I can't get into any of them now. The only way is for
    me to downgrade and never update VS Code. Doesn't seem like a
    good solution."

    ~thekendog 

Now, I'm neither a developer, or someone super-familiar with VS
Code's release cadence, and developers of any size supporting any
software are entitled to stop supporting things if needed -- it
happens all the time.

But in this case, it sounds like it wasn't handled well at all.

It seems affected developers were caught off-guard as this (rather
impactful) change was not signposted before, during, or after the VS
Code update (which is installed automatically for most, and the
update was pushed out to Ubuntu 18.04 machines).

Indeed, most only discovered this issue after update was installed,
they tried to connect to a remote server, and discovered it failed.
The resulting error message does mention deprecation and links to an
FAQ on the VS Code website with workarounds (i.e. downgrade).

But as one developer politely put it:

    "An update like this, which is "major" IMHO, should have a
    security mechanism involved. It could have checked the libc
    versions and refused the update. Now, many people are screwed in
    the middle of their work. A lot of room for improvement here..."

    ~juxeii 

All is not lost.

There are two options (for those who want to continue using VS Code;
other text editors and remote dev tools are available):

  * Upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
  * Downgrade to VS Code 1.85

An upgrade offers other benefits but is a "hassle", especially if a
development environment is setup, configured, and (otherwise) running
well.

Downgrading to VS Code 1.85, which becomes the last "good" version
for 18.04, is relatively easy, but folks should remember to disable
updates to the app to prevent the latest version from being
reinstalled after.

h/t Jesse

Microsoft ubuntu 18.04 LTS vscode
 
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