Questions about platform-versions

1

I’m working on a project, on my desktop-PC, running kubuntu, using VisualStudioCode. The source-code resides on my cloud-server.
Recently I tried to compile my project on my laptop (also kubuntu with VSCode), but that failed. After many hours, I think I found the problem. The desktop uses a platform-version the I somehow installed, but my laptop does not have :
desktop :
PACKAGES: - framework-arduinoespressif32 @ 3.1.3+sha.2952ac93

laptop :
PACKAGES: - framework-arduinoespressif32 @ 2.0.14

Searching this site I found that in the past I had installed a pioarduino version of the platform, but not for this project.
Now my questions :
Does VSCode automatically selects that version for new projects, because my platformio.ini does not specify a version of the platform ?
Are there downsides to use those pioarduino-versions ? I presume not, because AFAICT those are newer than the ones that platformio itself provides.

TIA.

2

It’s not VS Code but PlatformIO which is is using the installed version with the highest version number when no version is specified ìn the platformio.ini:

platform = espressif32

If you have used pioarduino in the past this number will always be higher (eg. 53.03.13 > 6.6.0).
If you want to use a specific Arduino Framework version, you have to specify the platform version.

Here you’ll find a list of corresponding platform and Arduino Framework versions as well as pioarduino platform versions: platform-espressif32 versions · GitHub

No there are not. Except it is not an official PlatformIO platform (if this matters to you)