CEO & Co-founder Deno Land
Creator of Node.js and Deno. Founded Deno Land to build a security-first JavaScript runtime. Leading the legal challenge to cancel Oracle's JavaScript trademark, arguing it's a generic term that should belong to the community.
In September 2024, Dahl launched a petition to cancel Oracle's trademark on 'JavaScript', gathering over 14,000 signatures. In November 2024, the Deno team filed a formal petition with the USPTO for cancellation, arguing Oracle has not used the trademark in commerce and its control harms the JavaScript community.
Dahl created Node.js in 2009, revolutionizing server-side JavaScript. In 2018, he created Deno as a successor addressing Node's security shortcomings, featuring a secure-by-default permissions model where scripts cannot access files, network, or environment without explicit permission. Both projects are open source under MIT license.