> Years ago software was just distributed... Well it's not years ago, in general most languages have been centralized around a single large index, which gives

> Years ago software was just distributed... Well it's not years ago, in general most languages have been centralized around a single large index, which gives many advantages but also some disadvantages like seen here. This has been great so far since they've been benevolent, but in cases like npm (which I'm most familiar with) the non-profit Node Foundation joined the private company npm inc. giving it basically exclusive rights. Previous node and npm inc developers have tried to make alternatives, but unfortunately the reality is if you want to publish a JS package today and want anyone to use it, you should use npm. > Maintaining an index is not free No, it's indeed probably very profitable when npm was sold to Microsoft, since the npm owners fought tooth and nail before to keep it private and not part of the Node Foundation.