
Node.js Foundation – Node.js and Io.js Convergence Repo - tilt
https://github.com/jasnell/node.js-convergence
======
drinchev
As far as this repo is a fork of IO.js i'm not sure this is going to work out
as a "merge". I think Joyent should consider their defeat and recover the
bridges they've burned.

On the other hand, it would be amazing if I could do brew install node and get
iojs on my Mac.

~~~
elisee
The (draft) convergence plan details how the merger is likely to be handled,
including on the technical side: [https://github.com/jasnell/dev-
policy/blob/master/convergenc...](https://github.com/jasnell/dev-
policy/blob/master/convergence.md#converging-the-projects)

EDIT: Hmm, didn't see this one linked from the OP:
[https://github.com/jasnell/dev-policy](https://github.com/jasnell/dev-
policy). Not sure why there are two documents with similar purpose.

~~~
drinchev
I didn't see that too.

I wish both teams seamless convergence! It's a great news for the community. I
hope business guys will not modify this in a non-sense way.

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Joe8Bit
I understand there a lots of governance/no technical differences, but is there
a clear answer as to why Joyent can't use 'fast forward' Node to the current
IO.js stable? Are there major discrepancies between the roads the two teams
have taken that would necessitate a 'merge' of the two projects?

~~~
4ad
Yes. And this is the reason I can't take people who advocate io.js seriously.
They either didn't do their homework, or have a bizarre set of requirements
from software. Joyent did lots of improvements in node.js observability with
DTrace and mdb providers. This was one of the very first thing that broke
after io.js forked.

Yes, releasing a new release every week is more important than being to debug,
profile, and understand your application.

~~~
Joe8Bit
As far as I understood, removing MDB was an unfortunate side-effect of
upgrading V8 to a newer version[0], and while I can see this would be an issue
for some people, I would argue that bumping V8 and the performance and core
language improvements that come with it is worth it! But I perfectly see
you're point.

Also, this is going to be an issue for Node core too eventually, unless they
plan to stay on an old version of V8 indefinitely.

Not sure what you're referring to about DTrace issues in IO.JS, could you
provide some guidance?

0:
[https://github.com/iojs/io.js/pull/1023](https://github.com/iojs/io.js/pull/1023)

~~~
4ad
DTrace works exactly like mdb, it requires knowledge about V8 internals.

The problem is haphazardly upgrading the V8 version without thinking about the
consequences. This is not how you do release engineering, especially since
io.js is advertised as stable.

Stable doesn't mean "it works for me", it means you provide some formal
guarantees to downstream consumers about the stability of exposed interfaces.

I'm very well aware that some (most?) people don't care about things like good
introspection support and stability, but it's pretty pathetic to see factual
information being downvoted because people don't agree with the message.

~~~
Joe8Bit
I think "haphazardly" might be a little harsh, my understanding is that the
IO.js core team fully understood the introspection regressions that would
occur when bumping V8; but they took the descison that improved runtime
performance combined with native support MANY new language features meant the
regressions were acceptable. I agree fwiw.

They favoured the many (who would use the new V8's features) over the few (who
valued DTrace etc)

I haven't heard any real claims as to IO.js instability, and have been using
it production at scale for several months myself.

------
DigitalSea
I really do hope the Node.js and Io.js projects do converge and work with one
another. This is a promising and great sign, I hope the wonderful work and
participation of both sides continues as this will ultimately benefit everyone
from both sides in the end. Competition is good, cooperation is better.

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andyfleming
Looks like an official effort to merge the projects from what I can tell.
Hopefully it will work out!

"This project is operating with the oversight of the joint Node.js and io.js
core technical teams."

