4 ms·

But when does the front-loaded experimentation phase end? When is it "good enough" to get a stable, usable release out there into the wild? It's easy to say "Be

by Pacabel 13y ago

But when does the front-loaded experimentation phase end? When is it "good enough" to get a stable, usable release out there into the wild? It's easy to say "Before the end of 2014." but I think we potential users need to start seeing something more definite. While Rust isn't at a Perl 6 type situation just yet, it creeps closer ever day. There are a lot of us who want to use Rust today, and we can settle for some imperfections. What I don't think we can settle for is a language that remains in an alpha or beta state after 5 years, or even 10 years. - Pacabel

derefr 13y ago
> but I think we potential users need to start seeing something more definite. Why? A potential user isn't owed anything; Mozilla hasn't done a marketing push to capture you, gotten you to sign up for a developer program, or offered Rust up as the solution to any given problem you have. They haven't promised you anything. They're just tinkering with Rust like you'd tinker with a custom car in your garage. Also, unlike Perl 6, there's nothing that's laying fallow in an increasingly-desperate way while they work on Rust. On the other hand, a programming language is forever. I'd rather have a programming language a decade late, that I can use for 40 years, than a programming language right now that gets outmoded after four.
- chromatic 13y ago
  there's nothing that's laying fallow in an increasingly-desperate way while they work on Rust. Oh, don't worry. There's plenty of activity in Perl and the CPAN that's not waiting on Rakudo.
- Pacabel 13y ago
  Mozilla owe it to themselves to get as many users of Rust as possible, especially if they intend to use it seriously at some point for their own software. Only languages with strong adoption truly survive and provide an ecosystem rich with effective libraries and development tools necessary for them to flourish. While programming languages may "last forever", their viability for real software development is very impacted by their adoption. Languages with limited or minimal adoption will not be usable for anything beyond trivial software systems. Just look at the Modulas, Lisp, and even Haskell. - Pacabel
pcwalton 13y ago
> It's easy to say "Before the end of 2014." but I think we potential users need to start seeing something more definite. This is precisely what the current push towards 1.0 is. You can look at the priority tags on the issue tracker. > What I don't think we can settle for is a language that remains in an alpha or beta state after 5 years, or even 10 years. Rust is currently making all efforts not to be that.

by Pacabel 13y ago

derefr 13y ago

> but I think we potential users need to start seeing something more definite. Why? A potential user isn't owed anything; Mozilla hasn't done a marketing push to capture you, gotten you to sign up for a developer program, or offered Rust up as the solution to any given problem you have. They haven't promised you anything. They're just tinkering with Rust like you'd tinker with a custom car in your garage. Also, unlike Perl 6, there's nothing that's laying fallow in an increasingly-desperate way while they work on Rust. On the other hand, a programming language is forever. I'd rather have a programming language a decade late, that I can use for 40 years, than a programming language right now that gets outmoded after four.

chromatic 13y ago
there's nothing that's laying fallow in an increasingly-desperate way while they work on Rust. Oh, don't worry. There's plenty of activity in Perl and the CPAN that's not waiting on Rakudo.
Pacabel 13y ago
Mozilla owe it to themselves to get as many users of Rust as possible, especially if they intend to use it seriously at some point for their own software. Only languages with strong adoption truly survive and provide an ecosystem rich with effective libraries and development tools necessary for them to flourish. While programming languages may "last forever", their viability for real software development is very impacted by their adoption. Languages with limited or minimal adoption will not be usable for anything beyond trivial software systems. Just look at the Modulas, Lisp, and even Haskell. - Pacabel

pcwalton 13y ago

> It's easy to say "Before the end of 2014." but I think we potential users need to start seeing something more definite. This is precisely what the current push towards 1.0 is. You can look at the priority tags on the issue tracker. > What I don't think we can settle for is a language that remains in an alpha or beta state after 5 years, or even 10 years. Rust is currently making all efforts not to be that.