That's not 100 % accurate. Arguably symlinks are kinda weird under Windows, but that doesn't mean symlinking node_modules doesn't work (you just need admin privileges).
Basically ied uses symlinks in order to resolve circular dependencies, while ied exploits the fact that require "falls back" in the directory structure.
Although using ied and npm at the same time for installing dependencies should work, you might run into some weird corner cases.
Therefore, npm and ied are compatible in the sense that you can use ied to install packages and npm for publishing them. At least that's the level of compatibility that is currently supported.
Its install process is very different from the one npm uses. E.g. just look into the node_modules directory produced by npm vs the one produced by ied.
Also the way it wires up dependencies (using symlinks) has been called "non humane design" by npm... so I thought it would be easier to just start a new project... it's not a lot of code/logic needed there actually... :)
This is a "cool" feature during development, since it's a nice proof of concept.
Originally I checked in the node_modules directory, but then reddit was shitting on me as usual (yes, you shouldn't check in node_modules in an actual app, but this is PACKAGE MANAGER!). As far as I know, npm has also its own dependencies check in + a ton of packages as tarballs for tests, so I might do that later.
Just in Germany for example there are a ton of companies called ISIS (just google "ISIS GmbH").
Being offended by a three letter shell command seems a bit over the top to me to be honest.
Edit: I won't respond to further comments on the naming issue. It wasn't my intention to name it after a weapon. As I said earlier, I will change the name as soon as anyone proposes a better one.
I made this. I'm happy to answer any questions, but please bear in mind that this is a WIP. There is still a lot of work to be done, although feature parity with npm is not the goal.
Upcoming features are:
* Nix-like rollbacks
* built in registry server
* discovery + installation via BitTorrent DHT
(Disclaimer: I'm the author of ied.)