It's only a slight exaggeration. In the OP he states "my heart just said yes, it wasn't' a rational choice but an instinctive emotional one". The original article also states/quotes that picking an esoteric language is a good idea because that way you attract people who learn languages for fun. The "let's use a cool language" attitude is very visible here on HN.
I stand by what I said in (b). That you shouldn't pick a language because it's fun -- this I find almost self-evident. When you want to build a business you need to be more pragmatic and you need to consider other factors. Django and Rails are now probably the most popular frameworks for web 2.0 shops. I claim they are not very stable (and I provide supporting arguments in other posts). So I argue that using Django/Rails is adventurous enough. Barely stable enough obviously doesn't mean that it's unusable or worthless. The success of many Django/Rails projects is evidence of that.
The onus is on those who use non-mainstream languages to provide evidence there is an advantage. I claim there is no advantage, and I point out several downsides. If I claim that using Assembly for web programming is foolish you wouldn't expect me to show you why either.
"But of course there are obvious exceptions" covers the few businesses that have become successful. Here too, the onus is not on me to prove that Lisp did not contribute to their success, the onus is on those who are successful to show that it is Lisp that made it so. The reddit people drank the cool-aid, and it didn't work out for them. A single data point, I know.
I'm not taking back anything I said. I stand by it. I find that some of you are looking for things to disagree with, and you read my statements in the most objectionable way. You're saying you know what I meant better than I did when I wrote it. That's quite presumptuous. To attack my character by implying I'm trying to weasel out of anything is most uncalled for.
My claim that Perl didn't exist when viaweb was started was indeed stupid. Had I known viaweb started in 1995 I would never have said that. I (mis)remembered something pg said some time back, along the lines of "if I had to start viaweb today, I would use Python or Ruby". Maybe pg never said that, I don't know. Either way, I was completely wrong there.
"The "let's use a cool language" attitude is very visible here on HN."
Some evidence would be nice. I don't see it at all in the sense you claim i.e "we'll use a cool language because it makes us cool". No one I know on HN ever makes that claim or thinks that way. And yet to you it is "very visible". Links please?
"The reddit people drank the cool-aid, and it didn't work out for them. A single data point, I know"
But you don't accept "single data points" in the other direction do you? ViaWeb, Jane Street, Orbitz, FlightCaster?
"single data point I know" ;-)
"The onus is on those who use non-mainstream languages to provide evidence there is an advantage."
You are the one who makes outrageous claims that there is no productivity gain without ever actually using "esoteric" languages in a business context, so you could have some experience backing t your claim that there is no productivity increase. Your troubles upgrading Python (or whatever, your arguments on this are very vague and unconvincing) are not sufficient. Sorry.
When people who actually do use powerful languages to run their businesses report increased productivity, you refuse to accept it or consider it a possibility.
<Shug> Flip Bit. Move on.
"You're saying you know what I meant better than I did when I wrote it."
I don't know you in person. I have to judge your argument by what you actually write not by what you thought in your innermost heart when you wrote it. In your writing you come across as uninformed wrt your claims, and constantly shifting positions when confronted with counter claims, citations or evidence.
That said, I am done discussing this with you. Your argument has nothing backing it but "I think thus and thus with no experience or data or evidence and I refuse to consider anything contrary to my stated position".
I stand by what I said in (b). That you shouldn't pick a language because it's fun -- this I find almost self-evident. When you want to build a business you need to be more pragmatic and you need to consider other factors. Django and Rails are now probably the most popular frameworks for web 2.0 shops. I claim they are not very stable (and I provide supporting arguments in other posts). So I argue that using Django/Rails is adventurous enough. Barely stable enough obviously doesn't mean that it's unusable or worthless. The success of many Django/Rails projects is evidence of that.
The onus is on those who use non-mainstream languages to provide evidence there is an advantage. I claim there is no advantage, and I point out several downsides. If I claim that using Assembly for web programming is foolish you wouldn't expect me to show you why either.
"But of course there are obvious exceptions" covers the few businesses that have become successful. Here too, the onus is not on me to prove that Lisp did not contribute to their success, the onus is on those who are successful to show that it is Lisp that made it so. The reddit people drank the cool-aid, and it didn't work out for them. A single data point, I know.
I'm not taking back anything I said. I stand by it. I find that some of you are looking for things to disagree with, and you read my statements in the most objectionable way. You're saying you know what I meant better than I did when I wrote it. That's quite presumptuous. To attack my character by implying I'm trying to weasel out of anything is most uncalled for.
My claim that Perl didn't exist when viaweb was started was indeed stupid. Had I known viaweb started in 1995 I would never have said that. I (mis)remembered something pg said some time back, along the lines of "if I had to start viaweb today, I would use Python or Ruby". Maybe pg never said that, I don't know. Either way, I was completely wrong there.
edit: found the reference http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36905 (I was wrong)