This is a presentation I gave at a local node.js meetup at Palm's headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA. The basic gist of the talk was that node is about enter a transition to mainstream adoption and we need to be ready for the changes ahead.

1. WHAT DOES NODE
NEED FROM US?
By Tim Caswell
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

2. WHAT NODE HAS
DONE FOR US
Given us a fast, lightweight, javascripty way to write network
servers.
Caused me massive sleep loss due to being too much fun.
Been the common goal for a very dynamic community to
form around.
Created jobs! (few now, more to come soon)
Taught us that we have no clue how to use it!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

3. GROWING COMMUNITY
2,303 people subscribed to the mailing list.
13,952 messages posted to the list.
350 members in the IRC channel #node.js
3,012 github.com followers for ry/node. (308 forks)
Estimated about 1,000 node related frameworks/libraries.
At least 40 companies using node internally.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

4. GITHUB.COM/RY/NODE
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

5. HOWTONODE.ORG
116,118 visits came from 6,323 cities
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

6. WHAT DOES NODE
NOT NEED FROM US?
YACDBCA (Yet Another CouchDB Client Abstraction)
YATFA (Yet Another Test Framework Abstraction)
YASOCFD (Yet Another Semicolon Or Comma First Debate)
More hype calling node the “Rails Killer”, the “Java
Killer”, the “Apache/nginx Killer”. Node doesn’t kill
anything.
Unprofessional and unkind attitudes within the community.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

7. ENOUGH ALREADY,
WHAT DO WE NEED?
Helpful and knowledgeable volunteers to field questions
to the growing number of newcomers to the community.
Solid, well-written and thought-out libraries for things
we don’t already have.
A better understanding of JavaScript and operating
systems in general. (This is key)
Synergy between the front-end JavaScript community and
the backend-end development communities.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

8. BE NICE!
A sense of humor is good, but be careful through online
mediums where meanings can be easily misunderstood.
Trolling for the sake of trolling is not ok! The community
is too large and diverse for that kind of activity.
If you see someone needing help and you have the time and
ability to help, please do.
The more pleasant we make the community, the more
talent we will attract.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

9. TROLLING
Don’t do it!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

10. QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
Diversity and competition among libraries is good, we’re
still learning and growing.
But too many half baked projects all presented in equal
standing with high quality ones makes it impossible for
newcomers to know what there is available.
And thus more half-baked libraries emerge.
We need a way to better organize, rate, and discover
modules.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

11. Tuesday, September 14, 2010

12. LEARN IT! REALLY!
This is a new world. Learn what’s different and learn it well.
There is a huge need, both in front-end and back-end
JavaScript, for people who truly understand it.
Become an expert in something that matters and
contribute.
Don’t just port what you’re used to from your old environment
to the new environment. Things are different here.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

13. LEARN
The ways of the master
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

14. SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Write blogs articles about what you learn. (howtonode.org)
Organize competitions to challenge the mind (js1k.com)
Hold conferences and meetups devoted to sharing what
you know. (jsconf, nodeconf, local meetups)
Tweet about fun things you find (wtfjs.org)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

15. SHARE
The Fire
Tuesday, September 14, 2010

16. PHOTOS USED
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dunechaser/1780733762/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joost-ijmuiden/4485190116/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/furiousgeorge81/177926979/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/filicudi/272591878/
Tuesday, September 14, 2010