Aside from the "raging dumpster-fire" - I personally have benefitted greatly from NPM, and many of its problems are likely common in other package ecosystems/ma

Aside from the "raging dumpster-fire" - I personally have benefitted greatly from NPM, and many of its problems are likely common in other package ecosystems/managers - I do find myself nodding in agreement with all your points. "Assume churn as inevitable and be organized for it" is a good mindset to stay sane on the leading edge, especially in the world wild web. The Jenga tower of dependencies will move around, break things every so often - changing interface for sometimes seemingly no reason other than preference. Major shifts in foundation, architecture, patterns, standard libraries, or organizational concepts are a regular occurence.