> Java is one of the few ecosystems that provides a software distribution ecosystem that doesn't allow distribution of sources alongside binaries.
This is wrong, source distribution is a standard in maven.
> Gradle literally cannot be built from source[1] because it relies on a binary cache of dependencies held by Gradle to build Gradle.
This is wrong as well as pointed out in the thread.
> As a consequence, the Java ecosystem has become a security and maintenance nightmare that other ecosystems simply aren't. As bad as Nodejs is, it doesn't do this.
This is almost hilarious. I'm working at a company at the moment guiding security updates for java and node.js backends. The java backends are not an issue. The node.js backends are almost impossible to upgrade, the javascript-frontends are even closer to impossibility.
1. Because they confuse Java with the standard hibernate/springboot backends that are used everywhere in the industry. Hibernate/springboot is the reason why there are so many monoliths out there that are almost impossible to refactor.
It's not Javas fault, it's Springs fault.
2. They believe Java is slow, but fail to realize that the JVM has actually one of the most optimized runtimes under the sun and can be fast than (unoptimized) C in many cases.
Long story short: Because they have no clue about Java and follow advice without researching it first.
Easy: Use Kotlin, which is extremely hip and compiles to the JVM. You can use the JVM then, and mix in java-support should you need it.