A New Era for the D Community

[Don Allen]

On Wednesday, 3 May 2023 at 23:24:53 UTC, Walter Bright wrote:
> This initiative has my full support.

While I have ceased using D because of my concerns about the 
project's future (I discussed my reasons in a previous message 
that don't need to be repeated), I have continued to check this 
forum occasionally, hoping to see the slope turn positive. Mike's 
message and your response are both the kind of thing I was hoping 
for.

While there is no guarantee that the effort Mike describes will 
have the desired outcome, the mere fact that the effort has been 
made and endorsed by you is a significant positive step.

I'm sure I needn't tell you that technical work and project 
management require related but different talents. I did both 
professionally for a very long time and I certainly was not 
equally good at both. You can probably guess which one was the 
laggard. But I have seen it done well, having worked for some 
really great managers.

One who deserves mention is the late Frank Heart. The ARPANet 
(and thus the Internet) would not have existed without Frank's 
unique ability to herd the brilliant cats at BBN 50+ years ago. 
He's in the Internet Hall of Fame, deservedly. See 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Heart. Some of the great 
people in the history of computer science are in the picture on 
that page, including Bob Kahn, who, with Vint Cerf, won the 
Turing Award. Both played absolutely key roles in the development 
of the Internet.

I really hope that this is the start of something good for this 
project. A lot of value has been built here, but the project has 
obviously foundered in an organizational way. Project management 
is difficult, so the trouble is not surprising or unique. The key 
is recognizing that the problems are happening and taking steps 
that have a reasonable probability of improving the situation.

I will watch how this unfolds with great interest.

/Don Allen