> I suspect that the author would have gotten a lot further had he been using a GC language and not had to deal with all the low-level issues

Agree, that many people are using languages out of context to what they are actually trying to do. In many cases, using a GC language would be far more productive for them. Though I do think we should distinguish between compiled and interpreted GC languages, as often there is a significant gap in performance, that can be wanted or appreciated.