> Many new systems programming languages are exploring big ideas and novel tools. Zig has comptime, Rust has procedural macros, and so on — but Hare lacks any grand ideas.
Would you say that the "big ideas" are being explored purely out of keeping stuff "exciting" or more due to an actual need for them? 50 years is a long time and requirements change.
There might be a need for these ideas, sure. They're worth exploring. But it's a bet, or a gamble: they're exploring novel territory. Hare aims to distill proven ideas into a simple package which represents the best approach as of $CURRENTYEAR, then use it to build a platform which will be stable for as long as possible. It might not be perfect -- the next language can improve on it, or maybe one of Hare's contemporaries will succeed -- but it will be dependable, and that's a trait worth optimizing for in at least one language.
Would you say that the "big ideas" are being explored purely out of keeping stuff "exciting" or more due to an actual need for them? 50 years is a long time and requirements change.