While the snark of this comment may push it into obscurity by those who hate snarky comments, I totally agree. I was surprised we could even still have Node.js after the huge Node.js vs io.js debacle. I think all of these arguments are about important issues, but they also can give a very negative impression to outsiders (not to mention how insiders aware of all the facts may feel).
That said, I am at least happy to see a he's going for a middle ground - he seems to be saying he won't step down, but he also looks like he's apologizing for anything he did wrong. Perhaps that's the best way to end the argument despite it not 100% pleasing either side
Perhaps this is because my coffee rush ended and I'm currently in the post-coffee slump, but I don't follow what you're saying. Are you saying this event will/has not change(d) the way many looked at node as well as perhaps its growth axis? Also, when you mention these changes, I'm honestly not familiar with the stats - did they improve or decline? I also don't follow your second paragraph, but that could be simply because I missed what you were saying in your first
The first fork drove some away because some felt the ecosystem was fragmenting but many came back after they merged back or understood io.js advantages. Some new developers who might have choosen the language never came back. The growth curve was altered because of those events.
This new split will not drive people away or stop the adoption in the same way. It's may cause some to put there changes in this new fork but this new fork will push changes to the node.js repo and this new fork will keep pulling changes from node.js.
Perhaps counterintuitively, debate and dissent can make projects stronger. I definitely would say that was the case with the iojs fork and subsequent merge. This time I am much more unfamiliar with the goings-on, so I can't say if it will happen again.
That said, I am at least happy to see a he's going for a middle ground - he seems to be saying he won't step down, but he also looks like he's apologizing for anything he did wrong. Perhaps that's the best way to end the argument despite it not 100% pleasing either side