There are some really good points in this discussion.
I learned AngularJS because of OFN and I never liked it. There are some concepts I like and maybe that’s where Vue is going but I have no experience with Vue, React or newer Angular.
The discussion about the API is good to consider but I think it detracts a bit here. Yes, if we use the API in our JS code, it will be better for the API but if we decided that we don’t need JS at all then the API would be build differently. That’s a separate discussion and I do think that we will always need some kind of Javascript. So which one do we go with?
I like focusing on the long-term sustainability. We should choose the best framework for us and not the one we know the best. All core devs are happy to learn new technologies. And learning a compromise sounds less exciting to me.
Luis’ point about Vue being more similar is valid if we think that Vue and React are an equally good fit for OFN. The popularity of React seems to speak for itself though. While I have no experience with it, I found Steve’s comment convincing:
We want to be flexible. One day there will be a new solution and if React plays better with other things then it will make it easier. And it sounds like it will be nicer to use React for little things without all the overhead that comes with AngularJS.
Maybe we could choose a small example from the frontend which we could try to implement in React and Vue, for example the login modal. The process and the resulting code may tell us more about the fit for OFN.
Just another thought: our struggle with AngularJS may just come from the fact that AngularJS was built for Single Page Apps and OFN is currently not an SPA. There may be parts that will become more like an SPA.