Eight Years Since Left-Pad: A Principled Stand Against Corporate Power
2025-06-11
Eight years ago, the left-pad incident shook the npm community. The author reflects on the event, revealing it wasn't a rash act but a principled stand against npm's decision to remove his packages under pressure from Kik Messenger. He argues npm disregarded the open-source ethos, acting heavy-handedly and lacking communication. Following the incident, the author left the US, traveled extensively, and shifted his focus from open-source to business, experiencing a personal 'death' and 'rebirth'.
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