> Having one voice shepherding the direction of the language has had tremendous influence on both languages. I can't help but think that node.js is in a similar situation.
Not really. Node.js isn't a language that needs direction; ECMAScript is a separate standard with its own drivers. Node isn't even an implementation of a language, and V8 has its own community directing it.
Node is a small core with pretty simple principles. The rest (the most important part, I'd argue) is a thriving third-party community, and that's something the loss of any single developer won't change.
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> Having one voice shepherding the direction of the language has had tremendous influence on both languages. I can't help but think that node.js is in a similar situation.
Not really. Node.js isn't a language that needs direction; ECMAScript is a separate standard with its own drivers. Node isn't even an implementation of a language, and V8 has its own community directing it.
Node is a small core with pretty simple principles. The rest (the most important part, I'd argue) is a thriving third-party community, and that's something the loss of any single developer won't change.