
The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source
Securing npm is table stakes (Interview)
January 29 · 1 hr 21 min · 78.1 MB
0:00-1:21:11
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As the creator and long-time maintainer of ESLint, Nicholas Zakas is well-positioned to criticize GitHub’s recent response to npm’s insecurity. He found the response insufficient, and has other ideas on how GitHub could secure npm better. On this episode, Nicholas details these ideas, paints a bleak picture of npm alternatives like JSR, and shares our frustration that such a critical piece of internet infrastructure feels neglected.
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Sponsors:
- Namespace – Speed up your development and testing workflows using your existing tools. (Much) faster GitHub actions, Docker builds, and more. At an unbeatable price.
- Tiger Data – Postgres for Developers, devices, and agents The data platform trusted by hundreds of thousands from IoT to Web3 to AI and more.
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Featuring:
- Nicholas C. Zakas – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Mastodon, X
- Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
- Jerod Santo – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Show Notes:
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!
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- 0:00Welcome to The Changelog
- 1:01Sponsor: Tiger Data
- 3:34Start the show!
- 4:55Recent npm history
- 10:07GitHub's response
- 13:17Trusted publishing
- 16:28What makes it trusted
- 20:17What they're not doing
- 22:53Sponsor: Namespace
- 24:31Misaligned incentives
- 27:48One big attack away
- 31:15How staffed is npm?
- 33:32Is using npm still prudent?
- 37:54Pre/post install hooks
- 47:22Verified publishers
- 50:19Sponsor: Squarespace
- 51:42JSR and vlt
- 57:18An Anthropic registry
- 1:03:24How other ecosystems do it
- 1:08:36The cool factor
- 1:10:07The profit incentive
- 1:13:02Nicholas' work
- 1:15:44Connecting with Nicholas
- 1:16:51AI: not just hype
- 1:19:26Wrapping up
- 1:19:52Closing thoughts