So, who’s rebelling? An eclectic mix of software developers. It includes six of the top eight computing wizards who developed Node.js, an open-source platform.

What’s that? Node is a popular and influential instrument for building and managing internet applications and services. It helps build easy, fast and scalable network applications. Walmart, GE, LinkedIn, PayPal, Uber, Yahoo and even The New York Times rely heavily on Node.js to run its applications.

If they’re all so happy, what’s the problem? They don’t like the way Node’s corporate sponsor Joyent Corp has been controlling the tool, limiting the role of communities in developing it. Joyent is a cloud computing company that had bought Node’s copyright and trademark in 2010 from its original author, Ryan Dahl.

It’s getting complicated. No, it’s simple. Dahl wanted to create a tool for building and running online applications with JavaScript (that’s the js part of Node.js), the most common computing language used for writing the code that runs in browsers.

Node.js is hugely popular among developers as it allows them to use a single language to write the code that runs both in the browser and on the distant computer servers that feed data into the browser. Also, it’s suited to building applications that can negotiate a large numbers of simultaneous users, such as online games.

Ok, it’s making sense. What’s Dahl’s scene now? He is no longer associated with the project. He had worked with Joyent for a couple of years, but stepped down in January 2012.

So what’s the problem? Reports say revolt was brewing inside Joyent over Node.js for some time now. The core team of Node.js wanted a structure where contributors and community could together solve the problems facing Node. But Joyent wasn’t enthused and, reportedly, tried to muscle control over the development of Node.js. The developers then decided to create a new platform by ‘forking’ Node, namely io.js.

Oh dear, what’s all this ‘forking’ about? It’s a term used in software engineering, especially in the area of free and open source software. Forking happens when developers take a copy of source code from one software package and independently build a distinct and separate version of the software. It’s not mere copying; it’s more about a split in the developer community over core philosophies behind products and projects. LibreOffice, the popular text editing tool, was forked out of OpenOffice. Any product can be forked from the original version without permission. This doesn’t breach any copyright rules.

So now? The rebels are going ahead with io.js. And experts believe the move can create a lot of confusion in the world of web applications, which will have some obvious business ramifications.

Will io.js compete with Node? No, io won’t compete with Node or Joyent. In fact, both projects can merge if Joyent resolves issues on managing Node.js. The rebels don’t want to have just one person who’s appointed by a company making decisions on Node.js. If the company is willing to let contributors to have more control, the issues can be solved.

Hmmm… Interestingly, the current split highlights the friction among open source projects and their corporate supporters. Recently, another cloud firm, Docker — named after its popular technology — saw similar dissidence as some of its collaborators said the company was veering away from the original mission, and some of these coders are making a new version of the technology.

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