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NPM Is Joining GitHub

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201–210 of 588 posts

Re: NPM Is Joining GitHub

#201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sleez'n their way into our hearts. I can't say I really blame them, but god I hate it all.

What does a trustworthy Microsoft look like to you?

To me it looks like water that isn't wet. PR (propaganda) and time will improve their reputation, but the "commodify your compliment" strategy, the intent to dominate markets through anticompetitive behavior... Those things aren't gone. Big tech companies (like most big business) don't prioritize public good over profit, so they really don't deserve anyone's trust apart from trusting them to seek profit.

Re: NPM Is Joining GitHub

#202
post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A common issue I've had with using Git repos directly as Node.js modules, is that many projects are transpiled/built before publishing to NPM. Depending on specifics of that build process, it may not work out of the box (or at all) from a node_modules folder. With NPM acquired by GitHub, I can imagine them "filling in some steps" by leveraging the fairly new Actions feature, so that repos can provide built artifacts,…

Repos have been able to provide artifacts since forever ago; they just don’t sit in the tree. While you can commit from an action, I’m not sure that’s a great idea.

You're right, artifacts in GitHub repos have been around a long time. I suppose what I was missing was a way to point to a specific built artifact (like a tar.gz from a release) as a dependency, from package.json. As far as I know, it's not possible yet with npm. I can imagine that will be covered somehow with deeper integration of GitHub and the NPM package repository.

Re: NPM Is Joining GitHub

#203

I'm surprised there's not a single mention of "Microsoft" in this or the npm announcement [1], given the old-evil-history of Microsoft and the new-nice Microsoft we have today. I would expect that there was at least a mention, considering the reason that most modules in npm are still in ES5 is exactly because of the monopolistic practices that Microsoft followed back in the day which makes Internet Explorer still rel…

This is great news for people forced to use Windows. JavaScript being a 1st class citizen on MS platforms is being even more cemented. It'd be great if Microsoft moved faster with Python integration into the MS ecosystem like SQL Server.

Re: NPM Is Joining GitHub

#205
post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does a trustworthy Microsoft look like to you?

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy where they get acquired by a newly-reformed Sun Microsystems (where no stock is owned by Oracle or Oracle shareholders). EDIT: I'm mostly kidding, but you can't really expect true change of morals when the vast majority of the upper management is the same under the new CEO as under the old one.

At the risk of sounding somewhat naive, I think people do have the capacity to grow over time. Perhaps part of the reason why Microsoft has seemingly turned over a new leaf in recent years is that upper management has learned from their past mistakes? I do see your point though, and I think it's stuck in the back of a lot of our minds.

Re: NPM Is Joining GitHub

#206
post #187

I'm surprised there's not a single mention of "Microsoft" in this or the npm announcement [1], given the old-evil-history of Microsoft and the new-nice Microsoft we have today. I would expect that there was at least a mention, considering the reason that most modules in npm are still in ES5 is exactly because of the monopolistic practices that Microsoft followed back in the day which makes Internet Explorer still rel…

Microsoft wants to host as much information as possible so it can collect data on developers and users. It is very hard to avoid giving data to Microsoft. GitHub, NPM, LinkedIn, Office 365, Teams, the lock-in is still alive. A decentralized web or a non-for-profit like Wikipedia is a much better model for these infrastructure projects.

Git was designed to be decentralized from the start. Is there a way to revitalize that heritage?

Discoverability and pull requests are two big benefits that GitHub has offered. Could we create decentralized open source solutions to provide those benefits? Are there other benefits that we’d need to provide to have viable alternatives to centralization?

Re: NPM Is Joining GitHub

#207
post #167
post #25

Thanks to Microsoft/GitHub for this acquisition. NPM is essential to the Javascript eco-system and it is hard to have a business model for just a registry. In the ruby eco-system the awesome Ruby Together https://rubytogether.org/ was started to run the registry. In this case one of the worlds most valuable companies will run it, which means it doesn't need a not-for-profit. Regarding "trace a change from a GitHub pu…

That must make you nervous over at GitLab, no? GitLab's integrated workflow is one of its main selling points (I love it), and GitHub now seems to be well underway to cross that moat.

Reminds me of what happened with Cloud9 and VS Code. First, Cloud9 was awesome for allowing devs to code remotely. Then once VS Code became the best editor out there, they added remote host support (among other things) and now Cloud9 caters to a different audience entirely.

Re: NPM Is Joining GitHub

#208
post #70

Heh, I called this 10 months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19838122 Somebody replied "Microsoft won't acquire npm for sure."

I used to be excited when I made predictions like that. Then I realized that my correct predictions, plus $4.15, would only get me a Venti Latte at Starbucks.

Re: NPM Is Joining GitHub

#209
post #14

This seems like a good outcome overall. NPM being such an important pillar in the software supply chain while having an unviable business model and largely being funded by VC money was never a good position to be in. There are problems with more of the software ecosystem consolidating with a single entity but it still feels like an improvement.

I'm not sure I like the continued consolidation of all things tech around just a few large companies.

That's generally not a good place to be.

Re: NPM Is Joining GitHub

#210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Embrace, extend, extinguish?

My prediction, that my IT department hates to hear, is that Windows is going away. Microsoft doesn't want to be Microsoft anymore; it wants to be Oracle and IBM and primarily make money off of business consulting and the cloud. I think Windows will eventually become a presentation and slowly-phased-out compatibility layer on top of Linux, similar to the way macOS became Unix, but even less different than its underlyi…

Microsoft has 7.5X the market cap of Oracle; why on earth would they want to be like Oracle?
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