Post

Let's follow this journey. A user reads a blog post about getting started with React that mentions CRA. Let's see at what point they might get exposed to @vite.dev or the idea that CRA is a dead project! • npm: nope • github: nope • cra.dev: nope • react.dev: nope (at first glance)

Thomas G. Lopes

@thomas.rocks

26 Jan 2025

This and tanner's thoughts bsky.app/profile/tann... here put React in a weird position indeed. Guillermo recently posted on Xitter about how "React is like Linux" with React being the kernel, and the frameworks being the distros, and this all gets even weirder.

Tanner Linsley@tannerlinsley.com

"Framework" semantics get in the way of progress way too much with React and I'm really tired of the "you must be this tall" narative from react.dev. Tools that drastically aid you to be productive with React deserve a seat at the table. Vite is just the obvious start among many other tools.

Thomas G. Lopes

@thomas.rocks

I'm not too involved in React nowadays tho, but nonetheless looks weird from the outside

26/1/25, 3:15 pm0 reposts3 likes

And from the inside

@swyx.io pitched the "React distro" thesis a few years ago: www.swyx.io/react-distros I think it's a reasonable take / mindset. The issue is that the React team has effectively stopped supporting the way half the ecosystem uses React, docs/guidance-wise.

swyx.ioReact DistrosWhy we no longer have frontend framework wars, and musing on the state of React metaframeworks today and tomorrow

Thomas G. Lopes

@thomas.rocks

26 Jan 2025

I don't mind the notion, as long as it doesn't mean that non-framework usage gets cast aside as inferior, or that React is seen as superior because of it