I don't think there is universal agreement on what the better alternatives are. If there were, comments like these would list them. There are however worse ex

I don't think there is universal agreement on what the better alternatives are. If there were, comments like these would list them. There are however worse examples for desktop development never the less used on the desktop like VBA, java, adobe air, scala. As with so many choices, there is a trade off. If it were possible to point to some system that is unambiguously better on all axes than javascript and its ecosystem, then you'd have a point, but since there isn't, we're back to arguing trade offs, and really, getting upset about the tools other people choose to make things is a pretty fruitless use of time and energy. If people really want to encourage others to move, they'd be better evangelising the solutions they love than berating people for choosing what they choose.