The borrow checker is undoubtedly the core innovation of Rust, but it's not what people new to the language want. When I first came to rust, I was looking for a

The borrow checker is undoubtedly the core innovation of Rust, but it's not what people new to the language want. When I first came to rust, I was looking for a c++ alternative that had similar syntax and low level power, but also a sane standard library and modern language features like closures. When I first learned about the borrowchecker I thought it was brilliant. Then I spent some time fighting it and I hated it. Then I learned to love it...until I got backed in to a corner and had to re-architect a project I'd been working on for months. Now I have mixed feelings about it. So I agree Rust isn't Rust without the borrowchecker, but I empathize with all the noobs who want a rust without it because many people just want a language with some traction that fixes c++ past mistakes, and they end up getting a massive paradigm shift thrown at them instead.