> First thing is the single most popular l1 language in China manderin is more like 1 in 8 humans Wrong in this context. 1. People who speak other dialects li

> First thing is the single most popular l1 language in China manderin is more like 1 in 8 humans Wrong in this context. 1. People who speak other dialects like Cantonese overwhelmingly use the same written language, so there's no barrier in written communication; 2. AFAIK Mandarin is the mandatory teaching language in Mainland Chinese schools, so even if you want to be pedantic I'd say 1 in 5 has native or bilingual proficiency in Mandarin. > starting a manderin only software project would mean choosing between only Chinese developers and Chinese devs and the rest of the planet as well. First, there's no such thing as a "mandarin-only software project", you use Chinese the written language as explained above. Secondly, it's still a reasonable choice if the author finds the alternative mentally draining, or the primary audience does. No point in global-proofing your project if the primary audience need to spend extra time and energy to communicate worse. I don't necessarily advocate for it, but I don't pretend that every project on earth has the obligation to make it convenient for me to contribute.