I recognize that fear. And have made similar observations of the current landscape.
Our hope in this instance is actually that the opposite is true.
The goal of this acquisition is not to OWN a JavaScript framework. Gatsby Inc is far bigger than Gatsby.js
The Gatsby.js project will join the Solid.js and Eleventy open source projects that Netlify already support through full time employment but who's roadmaps and operations are their own. Using those tools is not a means for Netlify to funnel developers into our platform, nor a means to attempt to lock users in. Our philosophy is that an abundance and variety of such tools is good for the web (and as a result good for us). Also that more tools will come in future and that we'd like to try to provide the best experience and support for whatever those might be down the line. We can't own it all. We'd prefer to support it.
Meanwhile, Gatsby Inc have created very powerful build and content orchestration tooling which is currently only available to Gatsby.js users. This acquisition will result in those capabilities being made available to any frameworks further helping all comers to the frameworks landscape.
> Meanwhile, Gatsby Inc have created very powerful build and content orchestration tooling which is currently only available to Gatsby.js users. This acquisition will result in those capabilities being made available to any frameworks further helping all comers to the frameworks landscape.
This sounds ridiculous to me. The "powerful build and content orchestration tooling" of Gatsby Inc. is basically the same stuff that everyone else is doing in this space. This includes:
- The traditional Gatsby competitors (Vercel, GH Pages).
I don't quite agree. Gatsby Inc have been doing a ton of work in this area, and it is really impressive. It's one of the reasons that its platform has been such a draw to larger companies with more complex data and content sourcing needs.
Meanwhile, with so many people talking about the acquisition as if Netlify purely acquired the Gatsby.js framework, I find it helpful to frame it like this:
Gatsby Inc is to Gatsby.js
as
Vercel is to Next.js
I understand that you're a DX at Netlify and your job is to advocate for whatever tech happens to be on your backyard. You openly acknowledged it and I thank you for it.
However, there is still a line that, when crossed, turns you into a regular old spammer. You are walking _very_ close to that line.
The Valhalla platform was "launched" 2 months ago. Even today there's ZERO public technical documentation on it. You can only find a bunch of marketing slides, SEO-ridden blog posts etc. saying that it's great, plus a video showing a few queries against a regular GraphQL server.
Please stop pretending that this quasi-vaporware platform is the best thing since french fries. Thanks.
I recognize that fear. And have made similar observations of the current landscape.
Our hope in this instance is actually that the opposite is true.
The goal of this acquisition is not to OWN a JavaScript framework. Gatsby Inc is far bigger than Gatsby.js
The Gatsby.js project will join the Solid.js and Eleventy open source projects that Netlify already support through full time employment but who's roadmaps and operations are their own. Using those tools is not a means for Netlify to funnel developers into our platform, nor a means to attempt to lock users in. Our philosophy is that an abundance and variety of such tools is good for the web (and as a result good for us). Also that more tools will come in future and that we'd like to try to provide the best experience and support for whatever those might be down the line. We can't own it all. We'd prefer to support it.
Meanwhile, Gatsby Inc have created very powerful build and content orchestration tooling which is currently only available to Gatsby.js users. This acquisition will result in those capabilities being made available to any frameworks further helping all comers to the frameworks landscape.