Eran's post is definitely good. We've tried to do that "hard work of pulling together modules and make sure that work together" he refers to, for the core stuff in ampersand.
Also, it's worth noting that there's no cost in installing a big framework on the server side. It doesn't hurt to have a bit more text on the hard drive that isn't used. Clearly, that's not true on the client where we have to ship code down the pipe.
You'll notice we actually use hapi on the server for the cli app. So I don't believe these to be at odds. It's all about pragmatism and picking the right tool for the job.
Also, it's worth noting that there's no cost in installing a big framework on the server side. It doesn't hurt to have a bit more text on the hard drive that isn't used. Clearly, that's not true on the client where we have to ship code down the pipe.
You'll notice we actually use hapi on the server for the cli app. So I don't believe these to be at odds. It's all about pragmatism and picking the right tool for the job.