How to Install VSCodium on Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS

VSCodium is a fork of Microsoft Visual Studio Code Editor modified to have full open-source access. The source code for this product can be found on GitHub, where it is licensed under the MIT license and, therefore, will always remain free as long you don’t mind installing extra features via plugins or extensions from third parties like Telemetry transmitting your browsing habits across networks without permission.

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to install VSCodium on Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS. The tutorial will use the command line terminal with complete steps to install the official repository and tips on updating and removing the IDE securely and adequately.

Update Pop!_OS

Before proceeding with the tutorial, it is good to ensure your system is up-to-date with all existing packages.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Install Dependencies

The following dependencies will need to be installed. Most of these packages would already be present on your system, but running the command can help ensure they’re installed.

sudo apt install apt-transport-https gnupg2 -y

Install VSCodium

First, you will need to import the GPG and the repository. Luckily this is straightforward, and you will always have the most up-to-date version available on your Pop!_OS system.

Import the GPG key using the following command.

wget -O- https://gitlab.com/paulcarroty/vscodium-deb-rpm-repo/raw/master/pub.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/vscodium.gpg

Next, import the repository.

echo deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/vscodium.gpg] https://download.vscodium.com/debs vscodium main | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscodium.list

Once done, run an APT update to reflect the new additional repository.

sudo apt update

Now you can install VSCodium using the following command.

sudo apt install codium -y

How to Launch VSCodium

Now that you have completed the installation, you can open the software in a few ways.

Using the command line terminal, you can open the software quickly by using the following command.

vscodium

The best way to use VSCodium for desktop users that prefer not to use the command line terminal is to open the GUI of the application by following the path.

Taskbar > Show Applications > Search > VSCodium

Example:

Once opened, it is precisely the same look and feels as using Visual Code Editor, just without all the telemetry.

Example:

How to Update/Upgrade VSCodium

To check for updates using the command line, use the following command to allow a blanket check for any updates across all APT packages.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

How to Remove (Uninstall) VSCodium

When you no longer want VSCodium installed on your system, use the following command to remove it.

sudo apt autoremove codium --purge -y

Note that the –purge flag removes all data created with VSCodium.

Next, remove the repository using the following command.

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscodium.list

For good housekeeping and security, remove the GPG key as follows.

sudo rm /usr/share/keyrings/vscodium.gpg

Comments and Conclusion

In the tutorial, you have learned how to install VSCodium on Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS

VSCodium is an important project that provides a freely-licensed binary distribution of Microsoft’s editor VS Code. This allows the community to take control of the codebase and make contributions and audit the software for potential security vulnerabilities. The project is open source and welcomes contributions from anyone in the community.