New Foundation Will Oversee Popular Coding Tool Node.js

Then One/WIRED

Node.js—the popular open source tool for building and running websites and other online applications—is getting a new steward.

Together with Microsoft, the Linux Foundation, IBM, PayPal, and Fidelity, the current steward, Joyent, is launching an independent foundation to oversee development of the project.

Node.js—or Node, for short—has gained immense popularity in the five years since it was introduced, underpinning web services from both tech startups and large corporations, including Walmart and GE. Previously, Joyent owned and managed the project exclusively—though it did take code contributions from outside developers—and now, the new foundation will assume ownership, extending the project’s decision-making process to the larger community of developers, says Scott Hammond, the CEO of Joyent, a influential cloud computing company.

The announcement follows a schism in the community late last year, when several core Node developers, frustrated with the slow pace of development under Joyent, decided to “fork” the project, creating a version of the tool outside the company’s control. The new foundation may be the first step in bringing the two versions of Node back under one roof. That could mean better versions of Node and, therefore, better online applications for the rest of the internet.

Open source projects like Node—projects that allow anyone to use and change their software code—have become increasingly important for both large corporations and small startups, and Node’s recent split has rekindled old debates about the best way to manage the development of such projects. While independent foundations manage many of the world’s most popular open source projects—such as the Linux operating system and the Apache web server—it has become increasingly common for companies to maintain control of important open source tools.

That can make for more efficient decision making. But as we’ve seen with Node, it can also lead to tensions between the parent company and outside developers who adopt and develop the technology. How the Node community deals with these tensions could set important precedents for how other important open source technologies, such as the cloud computing tool Docker, are managed.

The Rift

Programmer Ryan Dahl created Node around 2009 as a way to write large online applications using the Javascript programming language. Javascript was originally used to run code inside web browsers, but Node helped extend its reach to computer servers, distant machines that run the heart of an outline application.

The tool was a dream come true for many developers, who can now use it to write code for both servers and the browser in a single language. It also just happens to be good for building online games and applications that serve large numbers of simultaneous users in near real-time.

Soon after he created the tool, Joyent hired Dahl to continue developing the project and acquired the rights to the Node name. Then, in 2012, Dahl left both the company and the project, and he soon disappeared from the public eye.

Node continued on without him, but as the development pace slowed—and as more companies beyond Joyent came to both depend on and contribute to Node—a rift developed in the community. Last year, several developers—including four of Node’s most active contributors other than Dahl—started IO.js as way to add new features and updates to Node without needing Joyent’s permission.

The Foundation

But by the time IO.js was established, Joyent was already planning to hand Node.js off to a foundation, according to Hammond. “We started looking at that about three or four months ago,” he says. “And about two months ago decided the best way to do that would be to work with the Linux Foundation.”

For now, IO.js will continue as an independent project. According to IO.js spokesperson Mikeal Rogers, the IO.js team will have a public debate about whether to join the new foundation once its technical governance model is in place.

“The only thing that could make IO.js better is putting to rest the questions hanging over the future of our split with Node.js,” the team wrote in a public statement today. “We are eager to put this all behind us but we can’t sacrifice the progress we’ve made or the principles and open governance that got us here.”