The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source Next.js is infuriating (News)
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Sep 2, 2025 Frustrations with the Next.js framework spark heated discussions in the developer community, revealing concerns over abstraction and extensibility. Meanwhile, a deep dive into open source shows that many projects thrive under the stewardship of individual contributors. Listeners also learn about the handy 'Copy as cURL' feature for debugging. Additionally, Bear's new licensing model is unpacked, bringing fresh perspectives on project sustainability. Dependency bloat emerges as a pervasive challenge, raising important questions for developers.
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Framework Vision Causes Friction
- Dominic Mecca argues Next.js enforces a singular vision that causes repeated developer pain.
- The community sees too many abstractions, limited extensibility, and Vercel-centric decisions.
Open Source Is Often One Person
- Josh Bressers highlights that most open-source projects are effectively single-maintainer efforts.
- This reality makes pointing to a project's country of origin a weak critique of risk or trust.
Use 'Copy As cURL' For Reproducible Requests
- Use browser DevTools' 'Copy as curl' to capture and replay exact HTTP requests for debugging.
- Edit the generated curl locally to reproduce, share, and iterate on server interactions safely.