Is .NET 5.0 and C# 9 a "threat" to D?

[IGotD-]

On Thursday, 12 November 2020 at 22:11:33 UTC, Gregor Mückl wrote:
>
> A heads down working attitude is very commendable, but - 
> watching from the sidelines, mind you - I get the impression 
> that D could profit from some more aggressive outreach. That 
> means not just talking to the existing community, but also more 
> active advocacy. Reaching out to other communities and 
> organizations, pointing out that D exists, listening to them to 
> figure out their needs, pointing out what it is capable of 
> doing for them etc... To be blunt: this part is sales, but 
> different.
>
> It takes a certain kind of character to do this. Technically 
> minded people often tend to dislike doing that, in my 
> experience*. But let's be honest, we all like to listen once 
> someone has started a pitch in a way that made us genuinely 
> curious about some aspect of the product.
>
> I wonder now what would happen if the D Foundation could 
> actually hire a person who can present such a pitch 
> convincingly, especially to the corporate world.

Absolutely, D is like a garage project but garage projects don't 
really scale. The biggest Achilles heel of the D project is its 
management or lack of it. The maintainers are technically very 
skilled but they aren't really of the pure manager material. 
Small tech startups when they grow, the smart ones get a CEO when 
they reach certain point. Not only to relieve themselves from 
some work but also the friends that started the company might 
disagree and that's when the CEO steps in order to represent the 
interest of the company. I've seen companies that don't do that 
and they usually just dissolve because of some disagreements.

The D project could need a person like that, a person that work 
for the interest of the D language. Also mitigate what needs to 
be done and what is supposed to be the direction of the project.