--- title: How one developer just broke Node, Babel and thousands... description: A developer broke Node, Babel, and thousands of projects by removing a popular module from NPM, causing widespread disruptions. The module was removed due to... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/how-one-developer-just-broke-node-babel-and-thousands-of-projects-in-11-lines-of-javascript-wqdtxywd7 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: How one developer just broke Node, Babel and thousands of projects in 11 lines of JavaScript | daily.dev og:description: A developer broke Node, Babel, and thousands of projects by removing a popular module from NPM, causing widespread disruptions. The module was removed due to... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/how-one-developer-just-broke-node-babel-and-thousands-of-projects-in-11-lines-of-javascript-wqdtxywd7 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/WQdTXywd7.png og:image:alt: How one developer just broke Node, Babel and thousands of projects in 11 lines of JavaScript og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How one developer just broke Node, Babel and thousands of projects in 11 lines of JavaScript **[Community Picks](https://daily.dev/sources/community)** · 3 min read · 7 upvotes · 5 comments ## Summary A developer broke Node, Babel, and thousands of projects by removing a popular module from NPM, causing widespread disruptions. The module was removed due to brand infringement claims. NPM took the unprecedented step of restoring the unpublished module to resolve the issue. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@nikl** · 1 upvotes > So npm has issues **@pararise** · 1 upvotes > Sumirized by GPT 4 : > > This article describes a major disruption in the JavaScript programming community caused by the actions of a developer named Azer Koçulu. Here's a summary: > > - **Incident**: Developer Azer Koçulu unpublished over 250 of his modules from NPM (Node Package Manager), a crucial tool used for managing JavaScript dependencies. > > - **Trigger**: The dispute started over a module named "Kik," which shared its name with an instant-messaging app. Kik's legal team asked Koçulu to rename his module due to brand infringement. When he refused, they approached NPM's administrators,... **@kkurko** · 1 upvotes > There is a nice [video](https://youtu.be/IzqtWTMFv9Y?si=8DYOqqVXOJnkUjqf) that covers both this case and the recent case with the `everything` package **@lvasquez** · 0 upvotes > this happened in 2016 --- Tags: [#javascript](https://daily.dev/tags/javascript), [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source), [#npm](https://daily.dev/tags/npm), [#babel](https://daily.dev/tags/babel) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/how-one-developer-just-broke-node-babel-and-thousands-of-projects-in-11-lines-of-javascript-wqdtxywd7) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"How one developer just broke Node, Babel and thousands of projects in 11 lines of JavaScript","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-one-developer-just-broke-node-babel-and-thousands-of-projects-in-11-lines-of-javascript-wqdtxywd7","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-one-developer-just-broke-node-babel-and-thousands-of-projects-in-11-lines-of-javascript-wqdtxywd7"},"datePublished":"2024-01-09T13:26:47.059Z","dateModified":"2024-01-09T13:26:46.501Z","description":"A developer broke Node, Babel, and thousands of projects by removing a popular module from NPM, causing widespread disruptions. The module was removed due to...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--58gMhC4P--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2012","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--58gMhC4P--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2012","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Community Picks","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Community Picks","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1655817725/logos/community","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/community"},"commentCount":5,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-one-developer-just-broke-node-babel-and-thousands-of-projects-in-11-lines-of-javascript-wqdtxywd7","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":7},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":5}],"keywords":"javascript,open-source,npm,babel","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Community Picks","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/community"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How one developer just broke Node, Babel and thousands of projects in 11 lines of JavaScript"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-one-developer-just-broke-node-babel-and-thousands-of-projects-in-11-lines-of-javascript-wqdtxywd7","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"So npm has issues","datePublished":"2024-01-17T06:56:34.271Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/WQdTXywd7#c-4zRpKfYlp","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Nik L","url":"https://daily.dev/nikl","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--BowuJ7nG--/f_auto/v1705327749/avatars/avatar_lVzGcazWvJj9VtTBEhdgv"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Sumirized by GPT 4 :\nThis article describes a major disruption in the JavaScript programming community caused by the actions of a developer named Azer Koçulu. Here’s a summary:\n\n\nIncident: Developer Azer Koçulu unpublished over 250 of his modules from NPM (Node Package Manager), a crucial tool used for managing JavaScript dependencies.\n\n\nTrigger: The dispute started over a module named “Kik,” which shared its name with an instant-messaging app. Kik’s legal team asked Koçulu to rename his module due to brand infringement. When he refused, they approached NPM’s administrators, leading to the module’s removal.\n\n\nReaction: Upset by NPM’s decision, Koçulu removed all his modules from NPM. This action was a protest against what he perceived as NPM favoring corporate interests over individual developers.\n\n\nImpact: One of the unpublished modules was “left-pad,” a simple but widely used utility in thousands of projects, including Node and Babel. Its removal caused widespread issues, as many projects couldn’t retrieve this dependency, leading to build and deployment failures.\n\n\nResolution: NPM’s CTO, Laurie Voss, took the unusual step of restoring the “left-pad” module (version 0.0.3) to resolve the situation, prioritizing the community’s needs over the wishes of the individual author.\n\n\nAftermath: A new maintainer took over the “left-pad” module on NPM. Koçulu moved his projects to GitHub. NPM advised running npm cache clear for those still experiencing issues post-restoration.\n\n\nKik’s Response: Kik later clarified their stance, admitting that their communication could have been better and stating their original intent was to use the “Kik” name for their own open-source project on NPM.\n\n\nThis event highlighted the fragile nature of dependency management in open-source projects and sparked a broader discussion about the rights of individual developers versus the needs of the community.","datePublished":"2024-01-09T13:29:25.526Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/WQdTXywd7#c-tPz7elBLd","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Pararise","url":"https://daily.dev/pararise","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--JBHBVPZJ--/f_auto,q_auto/v1702024732/avatars/avatar_2GaAzm5zBKLbhQNvc2Xqs"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"There is a nice video that covers both this case and the recent case with the everything package","datePublished":"2024-01-09T17:05:08.191Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/WQdTXywd7#c-mHZMpJvDW","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Kirill Kurko","url":"https://daily.dev/kkurko","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/58859242?v=4"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"this happened in 2016","datePublished":"2024-01-10T08:46:26.311Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/WQdTXywd7#c-A6TkiE3vl","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Loreto Vásquez","url":"https://daily.dev/lvasquez","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--ro6oLKnU--/f_auto,q_auto/v1/avatars/avatar_tExFwHi3rHb2r08ceqOQy"}}]} ```