The Node.js and io.js forks of the open-source JavaScript runtime platform have announced official plans to merge development under the Node.js Foundation.

The merger was put to a vote on GitHub by io.js developer Mikeal Rogers, who initially proposed the merger in February, and the io.js technical committee voted to approve the merger yesterday. According to Rogers, the team will continue releasing io.js versions while the convergence takes place, but after the merger is complete, the io.js working groups and technical committee will join the Node.js Foundation under renamed titles.

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Rogers said the biggest reason the merger makes sense is because the foundation’s open governance structure is nearly identical to io.js, something the io.js team plans to improve upon further after the merger.

“During the process of writing all this [documentation] down, we improved the documentation for most of these policies and made some improvements,” Rogers wrote. “The new ‘converged’ node project will begin with io.js master and port changes from Node.js in for its first release target.”

The merger also comes on the heels of Node.js project lead TJ Fontaine announcing he is stepping down from the project and leaving Joyent. Going forward, the Node.js Foundation will govern the project collaboratively with the Node.js and io.js communities.

The io.js fork of Node.js gained popularity in December and January based on its open governance, allowing faster decision-making, more current Chrome V8 engine compatibility, and faster support for JavaScript features such as the coming changes in ECMAScript 6.

The Node.js Foundation was established with the help of the Linux Foundation back in February, and had its important organizational structure and stewardship questions hashed out at the Node Summit soon after.

Rogers confirmed the merger’s approval in a tweet: