To me, the reason React ruined web development is because it homogenized & centralized the practice, in an abstraction that is decoupled & non-interoperable with other techniques & styles.

The author is arguing that React didn't centralize enough, but to me, it sucked all the oxygen out of the diverse interesting place that was web development. That it didn't try to solve all problems in the stack is, if anything, a most relief. It succeeded because it didn't bundle in a data-layer. It succeeded because it didn't bundle in state. It succeeded because it didn't bundle in routing. Each of these areas have evolved independently & seen great strides across the last half decade. That's a huge win, that's why React is so strong: because it didn't try to form opinions.

Alas React itself implies a strong opinion, has a big abstraction that de-empowers & de-inter-operates with the DOM, that keeps it from working in concert with any other technology. It has enormous diversity, but only under it's own umbrella. It has crushed a much livelier sporting aspect of web development.

I'm so tired of weenies complaining about fragmentation. Get lost and fuck off. This medium is flexible & diverse & interesting. Stop applying your industrial software want, your software authoritarianism, "why can't everyone just do it my way/the right way" horse shit. Such a shitty attitude, from people selling FUD & clutching at the idea that everyone's gonna be happy & productive if we can just make the right framework. How uncreative & droll.