you can use it with any… db! 
and I have a simple rethinkdb driver set up already: ccorcos:rethink. It doesnt use rethink’s changefeeds though because its not powerful enough yet. Its doesnt notify you when the queries change order and doesnt support joins. So you’ll just want to use it as any other non-reactive database with ccorcos:any-db.
You should check out Neo4j though. Its ridiculously awesome 
I believe you. I’ve been wishing for Neo4j + Meteor for a long time now. Is there something simple like a todos app, using Neo4j, that we can tinker with to see how they work together? (e.g. Is the source of this chatroom demo available?)
My 2 cents, this is my worry too. I not fond of React. I wish MDG would focus on improving Blaze instead of integrating React/Angular. But facebook has the muscle and mindshare, that’s what’s driving MDG’s reaction to React, not any any real innovations it brings brings to the table from what I’ve seen.
Still, from the tutorials I’ve read React is considerably more preferable then angular since it keeps it’s paws of everything else
But seriously, Blaze is pretty epic in itself and just the fact it plays nice with the rest of the toolbox gives it a leg up as far as i’m concerned. Let’s see where this all ends up.
I don’t see why React would subsume Meteor. React is just the view layer or whatever we want to call it. It’s killer feature is of course React Native, and that’s something that no one else has an answer to yet.
It is true though that without Blaze, Meteor becomes a backend, so if you writing your app with React and you are looking around for a solution for the server (and hosting of course which is where Galaxy will hopefully shine), then Meteor is one among many competing candidates. The thing is, it’s not selling itself as the best backend in the world by miles. Take this company for example https://stamplay.com (who may or may not be good, I don’t know!) but look at how they are positioning themselves, selling themselves as the perfect backend…
MDG are surely planning to sell Meteor+Galaxy to a ton of Angular and React developers, but I do wonder if they are really asking themselves what those developers and companies want from the perfect backend solution
As you say, React is only the view layer and there’s more to client-side Meteor than views. I’m thinking Minimongo, subscriptions and Meteor.call() are pretty awesome.
And i would love being able to use meteor’s client side tools through npm or bower and use them in any kind of environment 
Principles of Meteor
Data on the Wire. Meteor doesn’t send HTML over the network. The server sends data and lets the client render it.
One Language. Meteor lets you write both the client and the server parts of your application in JavaScript.
Database Everywhere. You can use the same methods to access your database from the client or the server.
Latency Compensation. On the client, Meteor prefetches data and simulates models to make it look like server method calls return instantly.
Full Stack Reactivity. In Meteor, realtime is the default. All layers, from database to template, update themselves automatically when necessary.
Embrace the Ecosystem. Meteor is open source and integrates with existing open source tools and frameworks.
Simplicity Equals Productivity. The best way to make something seem simple is to have it actually be simple. Meteor’s main functionality has clean, classically beautiful APIs.
This is the exact argument I cam up against at a JS meet up last night. The organiser said that Meteor’s ‘walled garden’ was the one thing holding it preventing it dominating like it should.
Walled garden? Sounds more like someone is complaining that meteor doesn’t embrace the particular ecosystem and architecture patterns they prefer and are accustomed to.
I think people are referring, ignorantly, to the packaging system. I’ve heard it said myself.
EDIT: I suspect it is said by peole who looked at meteor during mrt days, when it was a little bonkers.
Once Meteor gets ES6 modules with NPM support this will get better too. It’s frustrating to search for something like moment only to find an outdated package several releases behind.
I think the ‘walled garden’ is also being torn down now that you can choose any front-end library that works best for your project.
SQL and alternative DB support is in the pipeline and I believe that will be the last obstacle for people who have the ‘walled garden’ complaint.
Based on what if read, in this post, about Meteor is that it’s a replica of the JavaScript ecosystem: a complete mess. But must say… Blaze was kick-ass.
Break things and move fast.
I think MeteorJS is moving fast, and also actively & positively embracing the ecosystem, integrating with webpack, react (native), npm & many other very great tools.
Meteor is evolving towards the right direction and in a fast pace with a community of high talents, I believe Meteor has a bright future.