The economics of D

[John Reimer]

Bill Baxter wrote:
> Sean Kelly wrote:
>> Bill Baxter wrote:
>>>
>>> I don't even really care how it's funded, but it would be nice to 
>>> hear a reassuring "there's nothing to worry about" from someone in 
>>> the know.
>>
>> If Walter were having trouble paying the bills, I imagine he'd be 
>> spending more time on paying work.  As it is, I believe he's in a 
>> situation where this isn't a concern.
> 
> As it is maybe, but what about the future?
> DigitalMars must not be rolling in dough, at least, or else Walter could 
> hire some helpers rather than doing everything himself.
> 
> One thing that concerns me is that the big corporate benefactor that has 
> swooped in to help other open source languages may never arrive on the 
> scene for D.  But maybe the big corporate benefactors like Google and 
> O'Reilly haven't been as important to the continued evolution and 
> success of Python/Perl/Ruby as I'm thinking.
> 
> --bb


I think he'll do fine, perhaps better in some ways without such wealthy 
benefactors.  D has lasted this long against all odds: in fact, I think 
D has literally bucked the trends, considering it has only an individual 
backing it. As to his personal financial situation, I accept that as 
being his business, since he has never felt the need to share it :). 
One advantage to a lack of outside subsidizing is that D is not 
controlled by these external forces (at least, not that I know of :) ).

Mostly, I think D seems to depend on the fan element for it's viral 
effect, kind of a slow pervasive bubbling from the bottom up rather than 
coercion from the top (companies) down.  To me D represents another 
unusual and atypical movement much like Linux was for it's time.  D 
likely will follow a similar, albeit slow, growth curve.  I doubt that D 
is particularly comparable to any other "hot" language such that we can 
otherwise predict its outcome.

-JJR