Disclaimer: I'm Joyent's CTO and I work for Scott. Normally I wouldn't comment on something on which I'm so obviously conflicted, but the record needs to be set straight on this point: Scott was taken entirely out of context by the reporter. In reference to the node.js incubator, the reporter (reasonably) asked about io.js. As an attempt at humor (albeit perhaps an ill advised one), Scott responded with: "IO.js -- what's that?" When there was an awkward silence, it was instantly clear to Scott that his attempt at humor had fallen flat -- and it was immediately clarified to the reporter that it was a joke: that he obviously knew what io.js was, and that the emphasis of the program was on node.js. That the reporter published the quote anyway (implying that Scott didn't, in fact, know what io.js was) was to take Scott grossly out of context. When we later asked ReadWriteWeb to clarify that Scott had been taken out of context, they flatly refused -- which is unfortunate, because it has resulted in heaps of undeserved abuse. (Many who have been involved with io.js have, in fact, gone out of their way to praise working with Scott.[1][2])

Now if I may inject my personal (if biased) opinion: the objective of the reporter was not to get the facts straight in this case, but rather to get eyeballs on the page -- ginning conflict if and as necessary. This is unfortunate, but it's not at all a surprise. It should also serve as a warning to all who engage with those who write about current events for a living: some (many, in fact) hold themselves up as journalists and work hard to get the story right -- but not all do, and one must be very careful, especially when attempting humor that might be deliberately taken out of context!

[1] https://twitter.com/mikeal/status/555572909247574017

[2] https://twitter.com/dshaw/status/610821802466639873