D beyond the specs

[Chris]

Would it be possible to find out at DConf in Munich why exactly D 
is so popular in Germany (my impression) and in other countries 
of Europe (and that general post code) like France, Italy, GB, 
Romania and Russia etc.? I've always been intrigued by the fact 
that it originated in the US but that it's in "the old world" 
that a lot of enthusiasts (and contributors) are found. It's just 
because you would usually associate innovation with the "new 
world", but in this particular case D must have struck a chord 
with the old world. Is it marketing and economic / pragmatic 
factors that lead to poor adoption rates (and sometimes outright 
hostility) in the US. Maybe, but I think there's something in the 
engineering approach and the concepts that "talks" to us in the 
"old world". I think this is an interesting topic as regards both 
culture and technology. Any technology is embedded in and the 
product of a certain culture / way of thinking - and D seems to 
be a special case. Hint: there's a Ph.D. in it ;)