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I do not know that I have the answer, but I do have a guess: Node.js is the only one of those projects whose development is primarily backed by a corporation.

Culturally, this sort of drama can only take place in environments where the "shut up and show me the code" hacker ethos is either missing or superceeded by other concerns. When a single company has significant control of the project, its priorities will override the project's. Many companies are interested in widespread adoption of the project, which is how "inclusion" ends up working its way on the list of project priorities. Many companies are also averse to controversy, so they're inclined to simply cut someone loose if there is a problem just to make the problem go away.

I could be wrong in the specific case of Node.js; the last time I paid attention to its governance was during the gendered code comment fiasco, where the contributor who was kicked out did not work for Joyent. But I have seen it in other open source contexts, most recently in the Drupal project.



Counterexample: Go. Also drama, but nothing on node's scale.

And Joyent left the node scene almost entirely years ago, so that's not it. Now node.js is a bunch of smaller companies fighting over their piece of the pie.

The Joyent drama was also because other young companies saw potential profits if they unseated the incumbent. I suspect the best thing Joyent ever did was leave the scene -- they spent several years nursing node.js from nothing to fame, and look what they got in return: a mess and long-term negative vibes.

The drama we continually see in node.js are part SJWs, and a much-larger part behind-the-scenes competitive corporate politics.


I must have missed most of the Joyent drama then, because your description of it sounds bigger than I remember. Again, I don't follow Node closely enough to be sure.

Go is a good counter example, and it also doesn't have the corporate politics despite being backed mostly by a single corporation. I was thinking that my guess was probably missing something; the behind the scenes struggle for control between multiple companies might be it.

Is there a way to quantify this "corporate politics" thing in Node and compare it to other communities with drama?




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