Even though the basis of your statement, "Many, many factors beyond merit contribute to language popularity and usage," is true, actually defining the merits of

Even though the basis of your statement, "Many, many factors beyond merit contribute to language popularity and usage," is true, actually defining the merits of these lesser used languages seems to be something that their fervent supporters are poor at. To my (C-tainted ears), the affirmations of support generally tend to sound something like, "It's better because its (modern|buzzword|safer|buzzward|technobabble|compact)." I am not suggesting that these languages do not have tangible benefits, but I do wish their supportors would be a bit more concrete while describing them.