On Thursday, 21 November 2013 at 16:23:07 UTC, Andrei
Alexandrescu wrote:
On 11/21/13 7:31 AM, Chris wrote:
Luckily we can now point to Facebook as possible corporate
sponsor.
But that's post-factum. The language already happily exists
outside the
corporate sphere, unlike Java that was a product from the very
beginning.
Each language has its story, but it's undeniable that corporate
sponsorship offers a lot of liftoff. Back in 2010 (I think) a
highly influential manager at Facebook said "I'd much more
support use of Go than D at Facebook because Go has Google
behind it." That was an assessment based exclusively on social
proof, before (and instead of) any technical argument.
Fortunately a lot has changed since :o).
Andrei
Yes, yes, yes. You are of course right that corporate backing
gives a language a boost, even if it's a mediocre language. But
as soon as corporate thinking comes into a language (profit,
ideology, branding, hype and whatnot), it's doomed. D has to
breathe, and I admire all the people who have made D happen, and
who are making it happen. I've learned a lot just by listening
(well, reading).
