The problem was never CommonJS. The problem was never ESM.
The problem has always been, and continues to be, stubborn backward compatibility. Node is making the same mistake that Microsoft made with Windows, that Apple did not make with OSX - rather than letting go of a system that's been outgrown and forcing the userbase to grow, they cling to the old way and the old API, allowing it to ferment.
This is the fault of the team working on Node and leadership making poor choices, including TC39.
The problem has always been, and continues to be, stubborn backward compatibility. Node is making the same mistake that Microsoft made with Windows, that Apple did not make with OSX - rather than letting go of a system that's been outgrown and forcing the userbase to grow, they cling to the old way and the old API, allowing it to ferment.
This is the fault of the team working on Node and leadership making poor choices, including TC39.