I am seeing the repo is completely blank with a message saying
What really happened with Aaron Swartz?
I am wondering if it is still safe to keep using it or we should switch to another alternative. Here is the link to the repo https://github.com/marak/Faker.js/ and this is how it looks like
It seems Marak, the primary maintainer for Faker, has deliberately pulled Faker's source code and history from their GitHub repository and published a non-functional package in its place.
For context, Marak has become known in recent history for some rather controversial comments regarding the late Aaron Swartz (whom they reference in Faker's updated README) & advocating for compensation for their open-source contributions. You can see the comments on both this Hacker News thread from Nov 2020 and this Reddit thread from today (January 5th, 2022) for additional context.
If you continue to need the functionality Faker provides, npm maintains old versions for install - just be deliberate with the version you're installing, i.e., npm i faker@5.5.3. The full source and history is also maintained in @withshepherd's fork on GitHub (published on NPM as @withshepherd/faker).
Unfortunately this is a known risk of this type of dependency ecosystem.
TLDR: Faker is now a community project. Visit faker-js/faker, docs at fakerjs.dev and use npm install @faker-js/faker.
faker.js has now made its way to a community repo and has its new home at https://github.com/faker-js/faker
FAQ - What happened to the original faker.js?
This project was originally created and hosted at https://github.com/marak/Faker.js/ - however around 4th Jan, 2022 - the author decided to delete the repository (for unknown reasons).
In the interest of the community, it has been decided that faker.js will continue to be maintained here and all help in its development will be appreciated.
in last 24 hours, all previously active npm packages are uploaded back into @faker-js/faker
UPDATE: on Jan 14th, the new @faker-js community mostly completed the new look of the Faker with a nice update in the new documentation site: https://fakerjs.dev/update.html
What really happened with Aaron Schwartz?
You can't talk about it or you're a conspiracy theorist, and will be harassed off the internet.
Whether or not Aaron Schwartz was murdered or died of suicide from law-fare, he symbolizes a generation of coders and hackers who watched massive tech monopolies turn open-source into fauxpen-source.
He died trying to make a public free-as-in-freedom-and-beer database of research and legal records - all things paid for by tax dollars and on the public record - that other monopolies still keep behind paywalls.
Aaron Schwartz thought open source was for everyone, not just for servers.
It looks like Marak thought that conversation was more important than server tests making up endless fake people's fake emails.
If you're uncomfortable thinking about that and just want some fake people, it looks some people took Marak's work and made money off it from these backers
npm install --save-dev @faker-js/faker
Here's an example of how to use it:
import { faker } from '@faker-js/faker';
// import { faker } from '@faker-js/faker/locale/de';
export const USERS: User[] = [];
export function createRandomUser(): User {
return {
userId: faker.datatype.uuid(),
username: faker.internet.userName(),
email: faker.internet.email(),
avatar: faker.image.avatar(),
password: faker.internet.password(),
birthdate: faker.date.birthdate(),
registeredAt: faker.date.past(),
};
}
Array.from({ length: 10 }).forEach(() => {
USERS.push(createRandomUser());
});
I am using faker-js and its working fine. Be sure to clear cache (including cookies) from browser before update any faker data on your code.
You can import it following ths
const { faker } = require('@faker-js/faker');
const randomName = faker.name.findName(); // returns a random name
