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This has nothing to do with NodeJS or NPM. The code is freely distributed, just like any open source repo or package manager may provide. The onus is on those who use it to audit what it actually does.

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It absolutely does have to do with it. If we continued to ship software libraries like we still do on Linux, then you wouldn't be downloading its releases straight from the source repo, but rather have someone package and maintain them.

Except at the granularity of NodeJS packages, it would be nearly impossible to do.

Why are Linux packagers so trustworthy? In most distros, they're a group of volunteers. The group is smaller, but it's not impossible for someone with malicious intent to get the keys to the kingdom and upload packages with embedded malware.

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