Does this actually make it any better, though? I mean presumably the people who took part in the crowdfunding also assumed they were contributing to the long term hosting costs of npm and the success of the platform itself.
I don't believe they had much say in the change. They are still using the money to do what they said they'd do in their campaign, and many people are setting up their registry as their default. As far as I know they just got caught in a situation that was less than ideal (while also getting rid of some financial burden). I think they deserve an applause for running it at high cost to their business for free for years rather than be villainized because they got caught in a situation that they weren't in control of. If you donated, or are worried about what Npm, Inc. is doing (hint: so silly to feel this way) you should set your default registry to theirs (it's already set as your failover, btw).
The cynicism in this thread is so bizarre to me. No one is being evil. There's no secret foul play. Everyone go write modules and share them and be happy.
