Visual Studio for Linux will Never Arrive💔

Visual Studio, Microsoft’s flagship integrated development environment (IDE), has been widely acclaimed for its robust feature set and integration capabilities.

Despite the growing popularity of Linux, Microsoft has shown little interest in porting Visual Studio to the Linux platform, leaving developers to search for alternatives.

Top Request from Visual Studio Users: Running on Linux

Visual Studio users have long expressed their desire for a Linux version. “Visual Studio for Linux?” is the most voted topic out of more than 200,000 topics posted in the Microsoft developer community. As of today this topic has more than 2,200 votes.

Despite this overwhelming demand, Microsoft has remained silent on the topic, leaving many developers frustrated and disappointed.

Microsoft’s Response to the Request for Visual Studio on Linux

Microsoft’s response to the numerous requests for Visual Studio on Linux has been underwhelming, to say the least. The company has directed users to run Visual Studio on a Windows virtual machine, a solution that is both resource-intensive and far from ideal.

They have also pointed users to the Visual Studio for Linux feedback item, which, despite being the top request, remains marked as “New” with no concrete action taken.

Community Efforts to Bring Visual Studio to Linux

Despite Microsoft’s apparent lack of interest, the community has rallied around the cause of bringing Visual Studio to Linux.

A notable example is the DotDevelop project, which aims to revive the abandoned MonoDevelop IDE and make it compatible with the latest Linux and .NET Core versions.

While these efforts are commendable, they remain a far cry from an official Visual Studio release for Linux.

Alternatives to Visual Studio on Linux

In the absence of an official Visual Studio release for Linux, developers have turned to alternatives such as JetBrains Rider, Visual Studio Code, and the MonoDevelop IDE.

While these options offer some of the functionality found in Visual Studio, they often fall short in terms of features and performance.

Doubts About the Viability of Visual Studio on Linux

Many developers argue that porting Visual Studio to Linux is virtually impossible due to its reliance on Windows-specific technologies, such as Win32, COM, and WPF. Furthermore, the sheer complexity of Visual Studio’s codebase would make such an undertaking a monumental task.

These factors, combined with Microsoft’s resistance to investing resources in the effort, cast serious doubt on the viability of a Linux version of Visual Studio.

As it stands, Visual Studio for Linux remains a pipe dream for many developers. Despite the strong community support and demand, the IDE’s availability on Linux is uncertain as Microsoft has not made any official statement regarding it.

In the meantime, Linux developers must make do with alternative IDEs and workarounds.

Comments from Users on Visual Studio for Linux

User frustration is palpable in the comments surrounding the topic of Visual Studio for Linux. Many express disappointment in Microsoft’s lack of action and lament the fact that the company has not capitalized on the opportunity to bolster its reputation within the Linux community.

Some users have gone as far as to say that Visual Studio for Linux will “never happen” due to the technical challenges and Microsoft’s unwillingness to invest resources in the project.

In conclusion, the dream of Visual Studio for Linux appears to be just that: a dream. Despite the overwhelming demand and ongoing community efforts, Microsoft has shown little inclination to bring its popular IDE to the Linux platform.

For the foreseeable future, Linux developers will have to continue relying on alternative IDEs and workarounds, with the hope that one day, Microsoft will change its stance and embrace the Linux community wholeheartedly.

Comments

[JoelBonetR 🥇]

Come with me to tear this down

First of all, it's safe to say that considering VSCode an RTE (Rich Text Editor) is so 2015... 😂

Let's do the checks around VSCode:

• Intellisense and highlighting? YES
• Code Linting? YES
• Preview results from markup languages? YES
• Run programs from within the IDE and/or built-in terminal Interface? YES (both)
• Ability to write and share plugins and configs? YES
• Running and Debugging software from within the IDE? YES

Extra features available:

• VCS integration? YES (Git, any origin -GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab... both SaaS and onPremise/self-managed)
• Ability to connect, query directly to DB Servers/Services and share queries? YES (e.g. SQLTools)
• Ability to test and share HTTP requests? YES (e.g. REST Client)
• In-depth Git integration? YES (e.g. GitLens)
• In-depth static code analysis? YES (supercharged with Import Cost, specific intellisense plug-ins and so on)
• QoL features? YES (e.g. Auto Rename Tag, Prettier -w. format on save-, etc).

The difference is just that most IDEs come pre-charged with a specific platform tooling (java, C#, PHP and so on), some of them even being locked into solving one particular development lifecycle (Java JVM for example) while VSCode takes the "here you got things you'll probably need in any environment and here you can download the extensions for the platform/language/framework of your likeness" and you DO have .NET official extensions as well as for C# (and many more languages).

Overall, question being, do you really need VS for Linux?

I've coded in Linux for 6 years or so, till WSL2 was released and I bet the experience of VS + Windows 10/11 + WSL2 will be even better than doing so in Linux, I'm now in MacOS and not much difference on that matter overall. I still stick to VSCode for anything.

If you prefer to stick to Linux native it's totally fine, just configure VSCode for your environment, sync the config with your MS Account once done and never look back 😅 I understand that you'll need to configure a couple of things that may come "already done" in VS but it shouldn't be much of a hassle and once it's done... it's done!

Any thoughts on that guys?

[Felipe Oliveira]

Can you use debug mode in VS Code? I can't make it work.

[JoelBonetR 🥇]

Sure! you need to configure it.

This is a configuration example:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Next.js: debug server-side",
      "type": "node-terminal",
      "request": "launch",
      "command": "npm run dev"
    },
    {
      "name": "Next.js: debug client-side",
      "type": "chrome",
      "request": "launch",
      "url": "http://localhost:3000"
    },
    {
      "name": "Next.js: debug full stack",
      "type": "node-terminal",
      "request": "launch",
      "command": "npm run dev",
      "serverReadyAction": {
        "pattern": "started server on .+, url: (https?://.+)",
        "uriFormat": "%s",
        "action": "debugWithChrome"
      }
    }
  ]
}

it should be stored in .vscode/launch.json (create file and/or directory if missing in your project)

For more details please check the reference.

Best regards

[Felipe Oliveira]

Thanks, i will try, i tried sometimes but without sucess. One question, i have to had different configs for Debug work in Node, Bun, Next, React, Vue, Angular?

[JoelBonetR 🥇]

Between FE and BE usually yes, it depends on how do you want to debug (certain extensions may use one type or another).

If it's vanilla VSCode without specific debug extensions then the above example should work, just change the commands for the ones you use and check that the url is correct.

Once launching the debug you'll have 3 options (VSCode will show a drop-down with the three names), depending on the specifics of your project one may work or do better than the other.

The debug will also be different of course if you code in any other language. C/C++, Python and whatnot, each has it's details.

Best regards

[Anthony Fung]

I'm actually quite surprised that there's such a demand. I thought that most people who used Linux did so as they wanted to avoid Microsoft products.

[webbureaucrat]

If you're doing .NET you're trying for the best tool for the job, VS on Linux makes tons of sense. Linux is a joy to use as a developer, but for a .NET dev there's really nothing like Visual Studio, especially if you're dealing with large legacy projects. VS Code is acceptable but there's a reason why companies shell out real money for VS.

[Kenny Louie]

Maybe I'm missing something but if you're dealing with large legacy projects you're probably working with things like Windows Forms, ASP.NET, ASP.NET MVC, etc. You're not going to be in Linux for that stuff.

[Anthony Fung]

As a VS user, I know how powerful it is - I was a little disappointed once when one of my managers suggested I use VS Code instead because it opens projects faster.

[webbureaucrat]

LOl tell them yeah all those missing features really lighten the load there!

[Gilbert Palau]

Maybe I'm not understanding the article, but VS Code is available for Linux:

code.visualstudio.com/#alt-downloads

and if that is not enough, there is also: vscode.dev/

Update: I'm an idiot. Sorry I re-read again and saw the difference.

[Kyle Harrison]

Even for C++ development, I yearn for the Visual Studio experience while working natively with Linux. Heck, VS can already use Clang. I just desire that whole "Solution -> Project" architecture that CLion, VSC, and *Vim seem to lack

[Emanuele Bartolesi]

Visual Studio Code is a good alternative (and free) but JetBrains Rider is a "real" IDE (but it's not free).
I don't use MonoDevelop since ages, but I think Code or Rider are better.

[revoltez]

why anyone would use windows in the first place

[sonicx180]

I don't really get the difference between VS and VSC

[Bervianto Leo Pratama]

Well. I like to use JetBrains Rider, but it's expensive for me. So, I use Visual Studio Code in Linux. Visual Studio Code is enough for me.

[Alex Pushkarev]

Isn't Visual Studio more expensive than Rider?

[Bervianto Leo Pratama]

Yes, but I use the Community Edition for personal projects.

[Alex Pushkarev]

fair enough. Not sure about now, but sometime ago built-in refactoring capabilities were very basic and one had to buy resharper to do something which was available out of the box in Rider...

I personally use VSCode only on my personal computer. I know it isn't as advanced as Jetbrains IDEs or VS, but it's lightweight and is reasonable for my home projects. I think at Microsoft they promote VSCode as the main coding platform outside of Windows...

Maybe if you give it a "forceful" try (by just removing everything else) for a week it would not look like a crazy option anymore