On Monday, October 18, 2010 10:57:54 Walter Bright wrote: > Jonathan M Davis wrote: > > Sure, it would be great if dmd were completely open source, but I don't > > see why the fact that it isn't would be all that big a deal. Other > > languages - such as Java and C# - aren't open source (or at least > > weren't when they debuted). People used them in spite of the fact that > > they were proprietary. And yes, having a big company backing them has > > got to help, but how many people do you honestly think used Java because > > Sun made it? > > I was around when Java burst onto the scene. Sun had enormous respect, and > their creation of Java got them the buzz very similar to the buzz Go gets > today from being from Google & Pike. > > > Sure, the fact that it was Sun helped, but they > > chose it because of the feature set, not the company that backed it. I > > don't think that I've ever met anyone who chose a language based on who > > created it. > > Go?
Well, no one I've ever discussed languages with has stated that they chose to use a programming language based on who created it. They may look into it based on who created it (for instance, if Microsoft or Google had created D, then I'm sure that a lot more of my co-workers would have looked into it by now), but I've never talked with anyone who has actually decided to use a particular language because of who created it. A major backer or well-known creator of a language gets people to look at it, but they choose to use it or not based on its own merits (at least from what I've seen). - Jonathan M Davis