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Comment by Rochus | Hacker News Reader

"Lisp isn't a language, it's a building material." (Alan Kay, see e.g. http://www.paulgraham.com/quotes.html?viewfullsite=1).

I first used Lisp more than thirty years ago (back then on the VAX), but I still don't understand why it is supposed to be the "best programming language" (as some people continue to claim). It is not even obvious to me how to recognize a programming language as the "best" one. The advantage of the simple syntax is paid with several disadvantages. Praising Lisp for its simple syntax is like praising a protein for its simple structure consisting only of a chain of amino acids.

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Simple syntax is just one of countless crucial features.

Here is just a trivial sample: https://twitter.com/HexstreamSoft/status/1334220825281654785

Fairly extensive advocacy pieces already exist, and we need even more sophisticated ones, and better infrastructure overall, and it would be much easier to do that with proper funding.

It does not help to "prove" an assertion by making further unsubstantiated assertions.

Why is Lisp the "best programming language"? How can we recognize a programming language as the "best" one at all? Why do "we need even more sophisticated" extensive advocacy pieces? What "better infrastructure" is required for what purpose?

> It does not help to "prove" an assertion by making further unsubstantiated assertions.

Exactly, so stop doing that, then. Including sealioning.

> Why is Lisp the "best programming language"?

First, the best programming language is Common Lisp, not just any Lisp. Second, I already gave hints towards answering your question above, but you do have to do your homework if you want to even have a chance at understanding.

> How can we recognize a programming language as the "best" one at all?

Easily, if you understand the best programming language and see that all others are blub.

> Why do "we need even more sophisticated" extensive advocacy pieces?

Because then we can just point non-believers like you at it to automatically win all arguments.

> What "better infrastructure" is required for what purpose?

Have you even read the Common Lisp Revival 2020 Fundraiser pitch? I encourage everyone to do so, and urgently.

https://github.com/sponsors/Hexstream

Is this in all seriousness your answer to the questions? And yes, I looked through your rather chaotic pitch.

It is chaotic, I'll give you that. This is a direct reflection of the chaotic state of the Common Lisp community and of all the hard work that is going to be required to bring it to a state of dignity.

I am actively working on bringing about this change, and although I am already fairly effective despite the constant and increasingly blatant sabotage and almost total lack of funding, I would be quite a bit more effective with at least some minimal funding.

For instance, 1000$/month would be effectively infinite money for me at this time. I'm not exactly asking for the moon here...

Why not looking for a job and doing Lisp in the spare time?

The point of the fundraiser is to enable me to concentrate almost all my energy on Common Lisp Open Source instead of having to divert energy elsewhere due to financial concerns.

Given the overall context, the direct and substantial benefit to the Common Lisp community of me getting at least minimal funding ought to be obvious.

The most immediate effect of me starting to look for a job would be to significantly reduce the energy I can spend towards Common Lisp Open Source.

Basically, I already have the dream job, but now I just need to get paid at least a bit. Even a small fraction of a "real" salary would be truly life-changing!

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