On Friday, 16 June 2017 at 03:53:18 UTC, Mike B Johnson wrote:
When a new user goes to start using D for the first time, D is
a PITA to get working! Don't believe me?!?!
Just try getting D installed on all 3 major systems for DMD,
LDC, GDC, with an IDE, some utilities, possibly arm
support(even though it's new and expected to have some issues),
etc. The issues really start popping up when you are trying to
use x86 + x64. Library issues that result in strange error
messages instead of "This compiler is not compatible with the
phobos v2.4324".
And guess what? This happens to regular users too! They either.
A) know how to fix them from fixing them in the past or helping
others(so it doesn't count because the problem still exists) or
B) have a specific setup that happens to avoid the major
issues(e.g., just use linux x86) then act like there isn't any
problems with D.
But no one wants to work on the part of D that deals with these
problems cause it's boring and most "experts" can deal with the
problems in a few mins to a few hours... doesn't seem like a
huge waste of time(even though it is, since it's a waste).
I'm going to summarize this as "D has issues that aren't likely
to be worked on any time soon by the core team".
It boils down the following (and I write this every time I see
this gets posted): People working on (and with) D for free are
already invested in things they are interested in. Your choices
are
- Invest time to work on these yourself (-> directly leads to
results)
- Pay someone to work on these (-> should directly lead to
results unless you get swindled)
- Write about it here (-> raise awareness, may lead to results,
but unlikely)
While I can understand your frustration (and share it for a
couple of issues) and raising awareness for issues is a good
thing, the third of these options is (historically speaking)
unlikely to yield results by itself in this community as people's
time is limited. If you want these issues dealt with, go with
option one or two.
D needs to just work! Library errors, setup problems, IDE
integration should just work! It seems the changes of it
working are about 75-85%... that IS LOW! It should be 99%. (And
I'm talking across the board)
Everything *I* need works well enough (and I'm fairly convinced
it is the same for the majority of D users, though that is
speculation). If you want something fixed, do it yourself or pay
someone to do it.
