[Khao]

Feels like this "do [x] while npm install is running" silly project is turning into a running gag. Why not fix the issues with NPM install that makes it extremely slow instead? Not saying that people shouldn't make things just for fun, but when you've got 10 different projects around the idea that NPM install is slow and you should do play a game or watch silly gifs while it's installing, maybe the time would have been better spend fixing the problem.

[massivedragon]

You're right, it's a joke. I was chatting to a colleague about how long his installs took to run and I thought having a game where you shoot all the packages that are installing would poke fun at the fact that you're probably installing way too many packages. I agree, fixing the problem would have been better, though probably harder and definitely less enjoyable.

[eric_h]

I think it's an effective satire on the existing implementations of the gag.

[sillysaurus3]

This is awesome. Thanks!

[stephenr]

I can't agree more, but honestly who's surprised here?

Since the introduction of nodejs and NPM, JavaScript developers have been on a ridiculous NIH-fuelled frenzy to recreate everything that ever existed, using as many dependencies (and sub-dependencies) as humanly possible to do so, while also actively choosing to not solve problems that they come across, and instead implementing ridiculous work arounds or replacing/rewriting entire components or apps, rather than working out they were missing a config option, etc.

I am not at all surprised that the nodejs/npm community's response to NPM being such a pig, is to put lipstick on that pig, and try to make it look prettier, while doing nothing about it shitting all over the couch and proceeding to lay in said shit.

[pori]

It definitely would be better to just solve the problem. This is classic result of an OSS community responding to a problem with complaints or new, unrelated/irrelevant projects. Yet, being OSS, we have the means to fix it.

To be quite frank, I am not an expert in npm's underlying architecture. But this post has inspired me to actually do some research. The fact that there is an alternate package manager shows there is a huge problem.

[zepolen]

You can't fix fundamentally flawed systems.

[renke1]

In what way is it fundamentally flawed?

[fit2rule]

NIH'ed package management such that we now have yet another broken scheme for managing packages ..