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LSP and Xtext Tutorial: Introduction

The Language Server Protocol (LSP), created by Microsoft, is one of the latest and greatest tools in the toolset of language engineers. As such, the maintainers of Xtext have implemented support for it. Since LSP is just a protocol, there are several ways to use it and also to consume it. One can for example, create an LSP server to be consumed by connecting to a standard TCP socket using a port and an address. One can also connect directly using standard input and output. On the other hand, there are several possible clients: one can use Eclipse, VS Code, or Theia. Each one can also use different ways to connect to the server.

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What happens to open sources project who lose their main sponsor

I recently read the Xtext framework is seriously needing contributions or its future is at risk. The GitHub issue of the problem dates from March 2020, so the problem is old and I just learned about it. This is a serious problem with open source software that I’ve seen repeats and repeats. I saw the exact same thing happen to Play Framework, another project I used a lot.

The script is the following:

  • Company X starts an Open Source project to innovate in some domain
  • Company X maintains the Open Source for a while, until they pivot, lose interest or something else
  • Company announces that it will give the project back to the community and simply maintain it as part of their paid consulting services

I want to be clear that I do not judge the companies for doing this. Companies are there to make money, and if open an source project is not giving them a good ROI, then it is their call to abandon it to stay in business. The only thing that I feel companies have to do is being transparent about their intentions and if possible lead the transition process towards the new

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