Post

Kevin Deng
@sxzz.dev

npm increasingly feels like a zombie org under GitHub. As someone who's been around the JS ecosystem and part of multiple OSS orgs for years, what I'm seeing isn't just "big co moves slow." It's quiet neglect of critical infrastructure the entire JS world runs on. A short thread 🧵

10 reposts56 likes

Greg Munt
@gregmunt.com

You may not have noticed, but GitHub itself is dying 🤣 A microsoft-controlled monopoly service is not viable in a future where the US is abdicating leadership.

Kevin Deng
@sxzz.dev

One concrete example. This issue on npm/cli: github.com/npm/cli/issues/8768 Open for six months. Zero official replies. It's not an outlier, it's the pattern. Real users posting real bug reports, just sitting there with no response from anyone at npm.

github.com[BUG] `publishConfig.tag` Not Respected · Issue #8768 · npm/cliIs there an existing issue for this? I have searched the existing issues This issue exists in the latest npm version I am using the latest npm Current Behavior npm publish doesn't respect publishCo...
Kevin Deng
@sxzz.dev

The npm registry has no proper issue tracker. Feedback gets dumped into a GitHub Discussions space, mixed with everything else, rarely getting an official reply. npm is critical infra for millions of developers. It deserves its own dedicated, staffed, public tracker. This isn't optional.

Kevin Deng
@sxzz.dev

Then there are the recent security incidents. Supply chain attacks keep landing on npm, and the responses tend to be slow and opaque. When you operate the registry the world depends on, "we're looking into it" days later isn't accountability. It's risk externalized onto the ecosystem.

Kevin Deng
@sxzz.dev

So here's the ask: **open source the npm registry** Microsoft acquired npm in 2020. The bar isn't even "make it better." It's "stop making it worse." A closed registry controlled by one company is a structural risk the JS ecosystem shouldn't have to carry.