alt Hacker News> And this is why it pays to just learn React.
It pays you, the developer, yes. It does not benefit the user.
> A contact form is not that complex.
Correct, my example was not a great one, just the first one that came to mind. Using a giant JS framework to do something as simple as a contact form should be seen as a failure of development culture.
> Treating a "contact form" as a potential fork in the road in 2026 is just sad.
Choosing React as a one size fits all because it suits you as the developer, with little to no consideration about what suits the user... that's what is sad in 2026. But it's where web development culture is. There should be no "React won". There is no need for there to be one winner. As developers we ought to be able to tailor solutions instead of be lazy.
SSG is solved for in React. The user is going to cope with a few extra KB of JavaScript just fine. Just like they cope when they watch Youtube or stream or w/e all day long. It's 2026. Data is cheap. The user really doesn't care until they hit your contact form that sucks because you tried to reinvent the wheel instead of just using React. Or when you need to branch out should your site ever do something actually interesting and this problem then gets even worse.
It's not hard anymore to get over the React learning curve. For a content heavy static site just use a good enough LLM and the right starter template and you'll never have to code, SSG and bundle size will just work, lighthouse will be all green. Your users do not care about the tech. The idea that React is the enemy of users sounds like a skill issue on your part. Good thing LLMs exist now, so you don't have to fret about the alleged perverse incentives. For a static site in 2026 a FE dev should be largely irrelevant. What could be more user friendly? Seems like big bad React has redemocratized the web right under your nose.