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The question is not so much how many working compilers are there, but how many rely on the language.

Practically, PHP has one interpreter, but if they go out, you can be assured that someone will fork and maintain it.

On the other hand, if MyToyLangOnGitHubGraduateProject goes belly up, you're stuck maintaining it yourself.

If you never adopt new technology there is no progress. C++ dissed, but offered enough ergonomics that it gained adoption. Java succeeded in giving people a platform on which they could distribute software while relying on a consistent runtime. Rust is new compared to these, but again offers significant ergonomics over C and C++, seems to be delivering on platform independence pretty well (better than C/C++ imo); it really is the best of both worlds.

What's also amazing, is that Rust is growing through sheer love of the language. There is no one pushing it, but for the joy of hacking. It is lik C in that way.

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