OpenJS Foundation congratulates GitHub and npm

The stability and security of an open source package management public registry for JavaScript developers has been a constant theme that I hear from communities across the OpenJS Foundation. Today, it was announced GitHub will be acquiring npm with a commitment to keep the public registry open. This is positive on several fronts, and a logical step to ensure confidence in the npm public registry for JavaScript developers.

GitHub is already used extensively by JavaScript communities, and is well-aligned to support this vast ecosystem. In fact, the 2019 GitHub Octoverse survey has JavaScript as the most popular programming language by repo contributors. Running a reliable service at the npm size is something that GitHub can surely do well.

Companies large and small trust GitHub. Because 80-90 percent of all modern apps are built with open source, and over 95% of the world’s websites use JavaScript, this acquisition further bolsters confidence in JavaScript as a critical technology to modern web, cloud and AI apps. 

Last but not least, I know and trust the GitHub leadership, including Nat Friedman, Erica Brescia, Martin Woodward and more who for many years have been collaborating across the industry for the greater good. We’ve worked with them in the trenches on OSS projects and community engagements, with friendship along the way. They have the experience to build upon the important contributions by many, which made npm the leading open source package management resource it is today. 

Congratulations GitHub and npm! We look forward to continuing our work with you all, together with our members and JS communities in new and productive ways.

[Disclosure: I’m a recent Microsoft alum, GitHub’s parent company]

Robin Ginn

Executive Director, OpenJS Foundation