Is it really "disturbing" if it's maintained by mostly college students? If this was done by industry veterans I could understand your stance, but the way things are this feels uncalled for.

I mean it is a little absurd, when everyone on the planet is using email, which is federated...

Also absurd that so many of us use SSDs but still don't know what quantum tunneling is...

Everyone on the planet is using IPv4 and the internet, yet the understanding ends at 'what is a LAN and what is a port' for a shocking portion of developers. Not knowing about federation[0] doesn't seem so bad.

[0] Most likely this is referencing the term and the structural pattern; as you correctly pointed out, the concept is quite widespread.

i've even heard that some people use some kind of federated packet-switching network these days to communicate. it'll never catch on :)