Title: The old Erlang mailing list&#x2F;twit o&#x27;sphere is in a fluster. A manic phase: “WhatsApp - they&#x27;ll no be asking who uses Erlang now!&quot; preceded by a depressive phase &quot;why isn&#x27;t Erlang more popular?&quot;.<p>The Erlang community is the last place with insight into why Erlang is not popular.<p>So lets ask people NOT in the community. Here is a list of hypotheses.<p>Erlang is not more successful because:<p>* OTP means Open Telephony Platform<p>* Erlang&#x2F;OTP is run by Ericsson<p>* the syntax is prolog-y &amp; not c-y or ruby-y or python-y, its just too damn erlang-y<p>* no package manager<p>* no list of open source packages<p>* no community site<p>* the mailing list is the community<p>* everyone knows each other from Stockholm<p>* it is too hard to get a first working app<p>* lists for strings, aargh!<p>* no for loops, eek!<p>* variables don&#x27;t vary, whimper!<p>* people don&#x27;t learn OTP first but start with Erlang<p>* people don&#x27;t learn Erlang first but start with OTP<p>* no docs<p>* too many docs but it is the wrong sort<p>* not enough teaching materials<p>* doesn&#x27;t run on the JVM<p>* we used to think that it was because there were no books...<p>* Erlang Solutions isn&#x27;t a proper internet company<p>* the language develops too slowly<p>* emacs is the IDE<p>Some things people are pinning their hats on:<p>* more books, yay!<p>* WhatsApp!<p>* Elixir is irresistable to Rubyists<p>* LuvvieScript will prove irresistable to the JSers (disclaimer, I&#x27;m lying)<p>* FP is trés, trés à la mode<p>* LFE &amp; Joxa will be the little lisps that can...<p>* something will turn up<p>* something better turn up<p>* oh God, get me another drink, even at Stockholm prices, I&#x27;ll be here when something turns up, but by God, a feed of strong drink is the only way to endure the wait<p>It would be helpful if you would say if you have:<p>* never used Erlang nor considered it<p>* tried it &amp; stopped<p>* use it regularly<p>So fire away. Do your worst. Hold nothing back.
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