> but not everyone runs on *nix systems

Meaning Windows? It also has file system permissons on an OS level that are well-tested and reliable.

> not all Node developers know or want to know much about the underlying operating system

Thing is, they are likely to not feel up for understanding this feature either, nor write their code to play well with it.

And if they at some point do want to take system permissions seriously, they'll find it infinitely easier to work with the OS.

So a separate user for every application I run?

Just locally, that seems like a huge pain in the ass... At least you can suggest containers which has an easier interface around it generally speaking.

I didn't know Windows has that feature, someone please explain