Welcome to Programmer Humor!
This is a place where you can post jokes, memes, humor, etc. related to programming!
For sharing awful code theres also Programming Horror.
Doesn’t anyone else use things like OpenSnitch to audit all outgoing connections? I block all phone homes until something breaks, then investigate.
If you are trapped on Windows for some corporate reason, there is SimpleWall.
We’re all friends here, and friends don’t let friends let apps phone home.
TIL. Don't assume people know about this like that, for many we have never even heard of it, but I'll be using it constantly now
I’m happy I could help!
Can I subscribe to your newsletter? I want to hear all your other recommendations.
I second OpenSnitch. It's the most annoying program i run, but the control it gives you over your outbound connections is so worth it from a security and privacy standpoint.
Once you start and run this you get to truly see how many different URLs are loaded when visiting just one website
I feel like lots of people here use Linux, where you don't need to be constantly vigilant of your applications working against you...
A lot of proprietary tools like VScode and Jetbrains are needed on Linux if you’re a novice or not yet proficient with tools like EMacs/Vi yet. For example I couldn’t get Vscodium to load an extension I needed so I had to use VScode. But tbh I’m just making excuses cuz I don’t know how to set up a good dev environment :-(
Technically it's even a ToS violation to install extensions from the VS Code marketplace (or whatever it's called) if you're using VS Codium. Many are also available somewhere else like the code forge where they're developed and are under open source or free software licenses, but quite a few important ones are only available through the one distribution channel you're not allowed to use, and contain proprietary components that can't be forked to lift this restriction.
Anyone new to these tools will be horrified at how aggressively Windows tries to violate your privacy with unnecessary data collection, phone-homes, remote calls, etc.
Linux is galaxies better in that regard. I still don't want anything making any connections without my explicit knowledge and consent though, and there are lots of packages and applications that try to unnecessarily exfiltrate data without asking. If you aren't using an active firewall, you are leaking.
Can't, all corporate hardware and their software, too. Not my problem, but also not my intellectual property being stolen to be used in AI, so eh, NotMyProblemException.
This is misleading. For people paying for the IDE nothing changed, data sharing remains an opt-in option. For users of their free licenses data sharing was enabled by default. Still a shitty thing to do especially as it hits a lot of OSS developers but lets criticize that instead of creating memes that are misinformation.
You do add important detail, but I'd make the counterpoint that if the corporation is bullying their least privileged users today, stealing their ~~lunch money~~ privacy, they're not going to stop with only them. This is testing the waters for them.
Plus - it's also messed up that they can fundamentally change the nature of the 501(c)(3) donated version and will likely try to claim a tax benefit as though it's equivalent to a paid copy.
As the saying goes, if a product is free then that means you are the product
In this case, the product was free to OSS developers not because they were the product, but because they're influencers likely to end up encouraging their users and/or employers to buy the paid version, so it was the marketing that those people could do that was the product.
This change with the data harvesting makes those developers the product, though.
AI scraping public code tempts me to dump all my projects into github to poison the training data
this made me laugh way too much
It's love to see what it does with a several thousand line function from my production code.
I keep seeing EMacs,Vim, and Neovim recommendations, but I’m out here recommending people use Geany. It’s honestly the best code editor I’ve ever used since its 2.0 version was released. I have it setup with a debugger, an lsp, tree browser, a nice theme, etc. and it’s basically perfect. Free, open source, perfectly customizable, what more can I ask for <3
Edit: just want to say for those ppl already using Vim, it does have Vim mode. So, I think most of the hotkeys should work but I’ve only used Vim a couple times in my life, so I can’t vouch for how well Vim mode works.
Vim is my preferred 'IDE' for C++, Python, Bash, and general configuration file editing. It's got some big pluses:
its text editing is superb once you've mastered it, but that's a small part of its benefits when used as an IDE, and 'Vim mode' in other environments kind of undersells what else it can do
Vim has some great plugins for development. YouCompleteMe is awesome for predictive completion and showing docs, but NerdTree for file management and TagBar for showing structure are amazing as well. They're all very configurable and they get out of your way.
Vim lives in your terminal window, so you can do splits and tabs using whichever terminal you like. Kitty is very fast and configurable and keeps out your way. Being able to have multiple tabs of Vim open, a tab for compilation, a tab for debugging, a tab for version control, a tab for man pages, and being able to flip between them without taking your fingers off the keyboard makes for a very fast workflow
Vim makes it very easy to edit binary files and be precise about whitespace changes, so it's easy to make a minimal change for raising a PR.
If you assign a hotkey to run a macro in Vim, then that can be made very flexible - saving and formatting all open windows, then invoking CMake to do a build and CTest to run all your unit tests can be put on a function key if you like. Trying to tell Eclipse to "just run CMake to do the build" seems to be an exercise in frustration; so many IDEs are terrible at "just getting out of the way".
Work pays for an IntelliJ licence for using Java. Java is so unwieldy without a proper IDE that it's hard to code in it without it. I certainly don't love it, though, and they seem determined to make every new version worse with bizarre new features. Flexible minimalist editing with configurable plugins is all that you really need, and on that basis Geany looks pretty good - will give it a try.
Second that. Mu daily driver now. It doesn't have every bell and whistle but by that same token it is refreshingly lightweight.
OOTL here. What did they do? Can't find anything obvious on their News or Releases tabs.
if you pay you can opt-in to share your code
if you use free version you can opt-in to share your code.
if you are entitled to using a paid version for free (e. g. students, educators) you can opt-out of sharing your code.
EDIT: I was wrong, you CAN out out in the last case, which makes the meme even more stupid
if you are entitled to using a paid version for free (e. g. students, educators) you cannot opt-out of sharing your code.
That is incorrect. According to the page you linked elsewhere:
For individuals on non-commercial licenses: Data sharing is enabled by default, but you can turn it off anytime in the settings.
(Emphasis mine)
And for all other cases it's opt-in. No idea how you got from that that you cannot opt-out. It literally says the opposite.
Yeah... I slowly stopped using it and am just using vim, and getting docs from sources.
I think I'd be liable if my code made it through to a LLM
The thought of that is so funny. Not the company that stole the code gets held accountable, but instead the poor schmuck they stole it from to make their AI. Actually this would not even surprise me all that much.
The mail I got makes it quite clear that you have to opt-in if you're using a paid version:
Dear JetBrains AI user,
We are notifying you that on October 7, 2025, we will roll out an updated version of the JetBrains AI Terms of Service. The main change is in the data sharing clause. Previously we said we wouldn’t use your inputs, data, outputs, or suggestions to train AI models. This is still the case, unless you explicitly allow us to do so.
- For individuals using JetBrains IDEs with commercial licenses, free trials, free community licenses, or EAP builds who do not explicitly consent to the new data collection model – nothing changes.
- For companies that are unwilling or, for legal reasons, unable to opt in to the program – nothing changes either, and their admins remain in full control.
Important to note that the data sharing is OFF by default on all types of JetBrains IDEs licenses except for non-commercial tier until you change the settings explicitly.
For more details about the change, please read this blog post.
Other updates to the JetBrains AI Terms of Service reflect some recent changes to the JetBrains AI service. For example, JetBrains AI can now be used not only with JetBrains products, but also with selected third-party products. The service also includes a new feature that allows you to upload various content for indexing.
For the existing users, the updates will take effect on October 7, 2025. By using JetBrains AI after this date, you agree to the updated JetBrains AI Terms of Service.
Highlight by me. Personally, I don't see a reason to be outraged. I've even used their AI products and they're OK. They can take over dumb tasks or help me not having to look up documentation.
sublime text is $99 for life and you don't even have to pay it and they have zero ai slop :)
Kate is $0 for life and you don't even have to pay it and they have zero ai slop :)
That's not quite true: Yes, your $99 license is a life-time license, but that license only includes 3 years worth of updates. After that you have to pay $80, if you want another 3 years worth of updates. Of course, the alternative is just putting up with the occasional nag, which is why I still haven't gotten around to renewing my license
JB is cooked
Is it time to go back to the plugin-hell called Eclipse?
It is NEVER time to go back to the hell that is Eclipse.
Go to frigging notepad or kedit before Eclipse.
Well if you want a real world comparison:
We migrated a project a few years ago from Eclipse to IntelliJ. Outcome:
So yeah I wouldn't recommend going back into hell. Even VSCode and it's forks are likely better at this point.
This is what finally pushed me to move all coding I can away from Jetbrains products. I wanted to to that for a while, because I didn't want to depend on a closed system and wait until it enshitified. Now it happened. Sad to see, but it was inevitable.
