Equivalents because VSCode and its forks are not an equivalent.
TL;DR Jetbrains is getting worse, more like VSCode. I want out to something as powerful but not VSCode like (which is worse).
Jetbrains has been chasing VSCode's popularity to the detriment of its own product.
The modal commit dialog is now opt-in, behind a nearly hidden, advanced parameter and will be removed in the not so distant future. This was part of their effort to make the UI "leaner" and more like VSCode so now Jetbrains IDEs look more like it.
Some keyboard shortcuts have also had to be changed to be more like VSCode.
Jetbrains used to have a good docker integration, but that's either unmaintained or undergoing work to support dev-containers better - something that jetbrains practically had nearly a decade ago, which allowed you to code on another server (remote development).
AI Assistant and Junie (their coding agents which I have to use for work) have consistently been behind the curve and just keep getting worse. They have 2 separate products for agentic development and can't decide which to keep, so they duplicate efforts and fail at both. Now I'm asking my employer to just give me Cursor like the rest of the team, so I don't have to put up with this Jetbrains crap.
Privately, AI it's non-starter anyway, but my guess is that Jetbrains is also focussing more development efforts on that than actually fixing existing bugs.
This dude maybe should learn to keep his mouth shut and play the game. Delete the blog, wipe the presence, reset the online identity. Until he finds a job, he could contribute to opensource to have something to show, or retrain in some other thing like a trade job.
Being loud on the internet and showing that you can and will be a problem for the company, even if you're fighting the good fight, will get you in trouble. Unless of course he finds a job with like-minded people.
My online identity isn't tied to my real identity. At least, I try hard not to because otherwise I'll have to add a disclaimer to every post "these are my views and not that of my employer". The more you give to recruiters, the more reasons they have not to pick you. Your online presence (if any) must be the cleanest, most professional that you can manage - especially if you're a minority.
People posting with their real names should just learn to STFU sometimes. Free speech doesn't mean "no consequences".