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by slexaxton 4504 days ago
This is a common confusion. The scalenpm crowdfunding was done by the good folks who ran the npm servers for free (mostly nodejitsu) up until the recent switchover to the new infrastructure with Npm, Inc.

You can still use the nodejitsu registry for free if you'd like[1]. They arent likely to need as much scaling anymore, but there's still a big cost to running those servers. I don't think there was any foul play when it comes to the scalenpm money as I'm fairly sure they were not aware of the intent for Npm, Inc to take over default hosting.

tl;dr the money did not go to the same people, and the people who crowd funded thought they'd still be hosting npm going forward at the time.

[1] http://blog.nodejitsu.com/simple-hosted-private-npm-and-regi...
2 comments
IsaacSchlueter 4503 days ago
> as I'm fairly sure they were not aware of the intent for Npm, Inc to take over default hosting.

I did tell Charlie in November about my intent to take over the registry in Q1 of 2014, if it proved economically feasible. The raise helped accomplish that, for sure, but so did a massive restructuring that means it requires much less resources.

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stormbrew 4503 days ago
Does this actually make it any better, though? I mean presumably the people who took part in the crowdfunding also assumed they were contributing to the long term hosting costs of npm and the success of the platform itself.
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slexaxton 4503 days ago
I don't believe they had much say in the change. They are still using the money to do what they said they'd do in their campaign, and many people are setting up their registry as their default. As far as I know they just got caught in a situation that was less than ideal (while also getting rid of some financial burden). I think they deserve an applause for running it at high cost to their business for free for years rather than be villainized because they got caught in a situation that they weren't in control of. If you donated, or are worried about what Npm, Inc. is doing (hint: so silly to feel this way) you should set your default registry to theirs (it's already set as your failover, btw).

The cynicism in this thread is so bizarre to me. No one is being evil. There's no secret foul play. Everyone go write modules and share them and be happy.

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IsaacSchlueter 4503 days ago
> (it's already set as your failover, btw)

Say what?

The Nodejitsu replica is a downstream replica, not a failover. Very different. 100% of `registry.npmjs.org` traffic goes to npm, Inc infrastructure.

> The cynicism in this thread is so bizarre to me.

Welcome to Hacker News. I see it's your first time here. :)

> Everyone go write modules and share them and be happy

Couldn't agree more.

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