Issue 1:
I could start it easily from a terminal as a background process in Fedora 23 (using ampersand). However, after an upgrade to 0.10.6 (64bit), it freezes soon after opening. It was not the case in the previous versions.

I suspect it might be related to the git integration somehow. It freezes if a folder is under git source control. It does not freeze otherwise. When I run it with the verbose option, it stops right before prompting for my repository credentials (which it normally does if not frozen).

vscode:

Version 0.10.6

Commit a80232b

Date 2015-12-19T11:26:42.359Z

Shell 0.34.5

Renderer 45.0.2454.85

Node 4.1.1

git:

2.5.0

Normal start-up (with a git repository address being changed):

bash: cannot set terminal process group (-1): Inappropriate ioctl for device
bash: no job control in this shell
### VSCode main.js ###
/home/rbazhenov/Software/VSCode-linux-x64/resources/app { pathArguments: [ '/home/rbazhenov/Projects/ec+' ],
programStart: 0,
workers: -1,
enablePerformance: false,
verboseLogging: true,
debugPluginHostPort: undefined,
debugBrkPluginHost: undefined,
logPluginHostCommunication: false,
firstrun: false,
openNewWindow: false,
openInSameWindow: false,
gotoLineMode: false,
pluginHomePath: undefined,
pluginDevelopmentPath: undefined,
pluginTestsPath: undefined,
disablePlugins: false }
Lifecycle#unload() 1
IPC#vscode-workbenchLoaded
Password for 'MYGITREPOADDRESS':

Failed start-up (freezes after opening):

bash: cannot set terminal process group (-1): Inappropriate ioctl for device
bash: no job control in this shell
### VSCode main.js ###
/home/rbazhenov/Software/VSCode-linux-x64/resources/app { pathArguments: [ '/home/rbazhenov/Projects/ec+' ],
programStart: 0,
workers: -1,
enablePerformance: false,
verboseLogging: true,
debugPluginHostPort: undefined,
debugBrkPluginHost: undefined,
logPluginHostCommunication: false,
firstrun: false,
openNewWindow: false,
openInSameWindow: false,
gotoLineMode: false,
pluginHomePath: undefined,
pluginDevelopmentPath: undefined,
pluginTestsPath: undefined,
disablePlugins: false }
Lifecycle#unload() 1
IPC#vscode-workbenchLoaded

Issue 2:
On VS Code 0.10.6, when trying to sync changes in a HTTPS-backed Git repository, I get an error message which expands to [1] when I click 'show output', if VS Code was run from the desktop environment. If I close VS Code and run it from the terminal instead, I get the username and password prompts on the terminal and typing from there just works (although it's obviously an uncomfortable task-switch).

[1]

git fetch
Missing ipc hook
error: unable to read askpass response from '$APPDIR/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/parts/git/electron-main/askpass.sh'
fatal: could not read Username for 'https://bitbucket.org': No such device or address
git pull
Missing ipc hook
error: unable to read askpass response from '$APPDIR/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/parts/git/electron-main/askpass.sh'
fatal: could not read Username for 'https://bitbucket.org': No such device or address

(Note: for conciseness I've replaced the directory where the application is installed with $APPDIR)

And here's what I see in the developer tools console:

workbench.main.js:63 There was an issue running a git operation.
Please review the output or use a console to check the state of
your repository.: Error: There was an issue running a git operation.
Please review the output or use a console to check the state of
your repository.
at Object.S [as create] (file:///$APPDIR/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.main.js:10:2854)
at file:///$APPDIR/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.main.js:62:16688
at Object.p [as _notify] (file:///$APPDIR/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.main.js:6:181)
at Object.__dirname.undefined.F.enter (file:///$APPDIR/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.main.js:6:3509)
at __dirname.undefined.t.Class.define._run (file:///$APPDIR/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.main.js:6:4830)
at __dirname.undefined.t.Class.define._chainedError (file:///$APPDIR/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.main.js:6:4189)
at n (file:///$APPDIR/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.main.js:6:2017)
at Object.p [as _notify] (file:///$APPDIR/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.main.js:6:181)
at Object.__dirname.undefined.F.enter (file:///$APPDIR/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.main.js:6:3509)
at __dirname.undefined.t.Class.define._run (file:///$APPDIR/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.main.js:6:4830)e.doShow @ workbench.main.js:63

And some more version info:

Version 0.10.6
Commit a80232bbcfe8a5cdad1ebc98638673d9dcb02458
Date 2015-12-19T11:26:42.359Z
Shell 0.34.5
Renderer 45.0.2454.85
Node 4.1.1