Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well you don't need to evaluate dozens of choices, a few at most. Hell if you just wanted to go by your search above 2 of the top 3 are the 2 biggest build systems in JavaScript (grunt and gulp), and the other isn't a build system. Maybe it's me, but I've never looked at a list of tools and thought "this is too many!". The more the merrier IMO, and if they are good then they will rise to the top over time. If you don…
> Maybe it's me, but I've never looked at a list of tools and thought "this is too many!". There is the problem of diffraction of efforts, and spreading knowledge too thin. You see some of the problems in the way linux distros do packaging - every major distro family has its own packaging system, born from NIH syndrome. The result is less portability of both packages and skills. Some competition is good, but there is…
And there's something to be said about smaller single-purpose tools. Adding a ton of features to something like make to support every possible option isn't a good idea IMO. Sometimes a small opinionated package with a "correct" way to use it is best for some circumstances.
Regardless, I really think that the market will sort itself out. If it's oversaturated then some big players will rise to the top and the rest forgotten. Unlike a Linux distro package manager, anyone can add anything to NPM with zero oversight. It makes the "floor" of quality much lower, but fragmentation isn't that big of a deal as the effort to publish is so low.