Is anyone still using npm v1 or v2 (most recent release 9 years ago)? Or do you know where I might find someone who does that? I have the following question:
Versions 1 and 2 of npm used to automatically install peerDependencies if they were not directly depended upon. From versions 3 to 6, a warning was given instead. From version 7 onwards, they went back to installing peerDependencies automatically, but this could be opted out of with peerDependenciesMeta.
Backbone has had an optional peer-ish dependency on jQuery from the beginning. Originally, this was not listed in the package.json so it was not installed unless the user opted in. We are now considering to make the dependency explicit and optional using peerDependenciesMeta, but for extant users of npm v1 or v2, that would mean jQuery is suddenly automatically installed where it previously would not. How bad would that be?
Of course, this would only affect users of the upcoming release of Backbone, which is perhaps a relatively uncommon combination with npm v2 or older, but the two can work together so it is not out of the question.