[rdtsc]

It was pretty hard to discern what happened. A lot of text and veiled insinuations. He is how far I got:

It was this article tweeted by Rod:

http://quillette.com/2017/07/18/neurodiversity-case-free-spe...

Which was noticed by a member of the community:

https://twitter.com/captainsafia/status/887782785221615618

Does that describe it? Maybe someone has a more clear summary

One thing I noticed is that Node.js community seems to be followed by drama. Maybe it's just something I misunderstood, but I have observed Python, Erlang, Elixir, other communities around specific projects and libraries and I just don't see these many scandals there. In fact at one point when I reject Node.js as viable platform, the community scandals and seeming immaturity was one of top factors. What is it about this community that seems to attract this kind of behavior? And note I am not taking any sides in this case, as it is not clear what happened, it is just it looks messy to an outside developer looking in.

[b34r]

Disclaimer: I'm a gay male that has been involved with groups run/moderated by the people I mention below.

Several high ranking members of Node / NPM are militant queer feminists. If they smell blood in the water, they tend to pounce hard without much regard for due process. Others glom on either in agreement or to make themselves seem progressive.

[b34r]

To give a specific example, I was part of an LGBTQ in Tech Slack group that was admined by several members of the community mentioned above.

Their CoC indicated that anyone considered a majority group (white and male being the worst) would automatically be considered at fault in any/all arguments and they would be resolved in favor of the minority.

That's the mentality at play here that does not give a space for people to defend themselves and resolve conflict. Sweep it under the rug so as to not disturb the more sensitive fringe elements, and condemn those who have not had a chance to even consider repenting.

[mdekkers]

What is it about this community that seems to attract this kind of behavior?

I don't know about Node.js specifically, but I found when it is a project with a very high code-to-comms ration, this doesn't happen often. When there are a lot of non-coding "Open Source Groupies" involved in a project that start talking about "community engagement" and the like (or fledgling commercial entities, trying to cash in and influence), this shit isn't far behind.

Good open source code speaks for itself, and doesn't require non-code contributions. Or boards. Or a "Governance Structure".

[thehardsphere]

I do not know that I have the answer, but I do have a guess: Node.js is the only one of those projects whose development is primarily backed by a corporation.

Culturally, this sort of drama can only take place in environments where the "shut up and show me the code" hacker ethos is either missing or superceeded by other concerns. When a single company has significant control of the project, its priorities will override the project's. Many companies are interested in widespread adoption of the project, which is how "inclusion" ends up working its way on the list of project priorities. Many companies are also averse to controversy, so they're inclined to simply cut someone loose if there is a problem just to make the problem go away.

I could be wrong in the specific case of Node.js; the last time I paid attention to its governance was during the gendered code comment fiasco, where the contributor who was kicked out did not work for Joyent. But I have seen it in other open source contexts, most recently in the Drupal project.

[dmpk2k]

Counterexample: Go. Also drama, but nothing on node's scale.

And Joyent left the node scene almost entirely years ago, so that's not it. Now node.js is a bunch of smaller companies fighting over their piece of the pie.

The Joyent drama was also because other young companies saw potential profits if they unseated the incumbent. I suspect the best thing Joyent ever did was leave the scene -- they spent several years nursing node.js from nothing to fame, and look what they got in return: a mess and long-term negative vibes.

The drama we continually see in node.js are part SJWs, and a much-larger part behind-the-scenes competitive corporate politics.

[thehardsphere]

I must have missed most of the Joyent drama then, because your description of it sounds bigger than I remember. Again, I don't follow Node closely enough to be sure.

Go is a good counter example, and it also doesn't have the corporate politics despite being backed mostly by a single corporation. I was thinking that my guess was probably missing something; the behind the scenes struggle for control between multiple companies might be it.

Is there a way to quantify this "corporate politics" thing in Node and compare it to other communities with drama?

[tracker1]

Weren't a couple guys at a Python conference fired for telling a joke in a line that someone else overheard? I mean the backlash was just as bad.. but that seems pretty similar.

[rdtsc]

That's one scandal I can think can of in such a large community.

Node had the "pronoun" scandal and the power struggle between strongloop and joyent.

The left-pad one which broke a ridiculous number of packages.

Crockford removed as speaker from some conference.

Project was forked at least 2 times IO.js vs node.js vs Ayo.js

While not a single scandal I have noticed in personal interactions while interviewing candidates, conferences, and online in forums that node.js devs seem to be very excited and confident and that's good, but also they don't know what they are talking about. That combination doesn't come off too well. That's why my "immaturity" comment. Maybe I am wrong and just happened to find all the bad apples by accident.