On caring for user data: NeoVim caused Vim undo files to be deleted
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
NeoVim deleted Vim's persistent undo files, breaking a 20-year-old feature.
David Chisnall recounts that NeoVim replaced Vim's persistent undo files with its own format, silently deleting data. When he reported this, developers said the format was unstable and users should not rely on it. The post cites Raskin's First Law: a program shall not harm user data or allow it to come to harm through inaction.
What commenters are saying
Commenters split into two camps: those who saw the incident as a serious breach of trust, and those who defended NeoVim's need to break compatibility for legitimate technical reasons. Several noted that the undo file format is now versioned and NeoVim returns an error on incompatibility. Others argued open-source developers have no duty of care, while critics countered that deleting files without warning is harmful regardless of license terms.