> I’ve already laid out my models, but React.js likes to mix models and states and properties, so I had to rethink it => Redux > this Gulp configuration file... => Webpack This might be opinionated but for a personal SPA pet project without any legacy a good up to date stack has ES6/Babel, React, Redux, Webpack included. Curious what others prefer.
You just described his exact problem. He's confused by react so you tell him to use redux. He's intimidated by gulp so you tell him to use webpack. It doesn't matter what he uses, he just wants to write code and everyone telling him to use some other marginally different tool is just contributing to the paralysis.
Good, then he can stop reaching for new libraries and frameworks every time he gets "confused" or "intimidated". Invest the effort to learn one of them in-depth and the knowledge will still be applicable to new tools that come along. After all, they're just "marginally" different.