@julian this post is the reason I didn't use nodebb when I was evaluating frameworks last year, and I've linked other people to it.

This is a bad design decision with graybeard logic. DX is always the main pain point and driver of third party contributions, not premature optimization.

React, for example, has eaten the world and birthed many alternatives with similar ergonomics, smaller footprints and faster renders. Meanwhile nodebb is using... jQuery and BenchpressJS? Oof.

Lastly, I was also "trained in an era when client-side frameworks did not exist"; it is not a flex to refuse to grow with the times. This is like saying you were raised in a barn so don't know how to shower. These architectural decisions have surely been a deterrent for adoption for many others.