That is a bold claim and no supporting evidence. This forum can be so valuable and yet so maddening.

Please do share your experiences that support your opinion.

Gun.js can seem ‘magical’ but then again the 100 lines of code (iirc it’s less) are there for all to see.

I’ve found the time invested to learn about gun (the sync protocol) and RAD (storage abstraction layer) quite worth it. The addition of SEA (security encryption authorization) wrapping around gun enables a lot of implementation options which some find frustrating as they’d rather not have to think about topology before building ‘an app’. Could that be a reason for your comment?

Would love to hear why you think it’s snake oil.

Because when the author writes or speaks about the project, they consistently demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of the domain. There is a reason that GunDB is never mentioned in literature or papers.

This isn't in the relevant domain.

Snake oil needs to be purchased and it has hidden ingredients. Where are those in gun? Free and OSS. If you don’t like it don’t use it but why the hate? Serious question.

When something is unsound it is valuable to point it out. It prevents harm.

Warmer. Warmer. Keep going! What makes it unsound? Add some real value here. What you have shared thus far is pretty flaccid.

why?