[scrollaway]

They complain because they're under the impression that everything in node_modules will end up shipped to the browser.

It's also more visible. Python libraries are hidden in the environment far from your shell or file manager. So you don't know that your virtualenv weighs 300mb. But node_modules is right there, you can't help but look.

In other words it's a complete lack of experience, regardless of how adamant the OP is about their skills.

[latronic_notron]

Exactly.

For a while .NET Core also had a folder within the project for third-party NuGet modules, and for a simple web app they would go into the 200mb, and that's without the compiler itself. Now those files live in a hidden folder (or were absorbed by the stdlib), and nobody complains about it anymore.

Initiatives like Yarn's plug-and-play [1] would have the side effect of being great marketing for Node.js development.

[1] https://github.com/yarnpkg/rfcs/blob/master/accepted/0000-pl...