The odds are very good that Lars would have left regardless of how Dart was doing. He has repeatedly told me "I'm a 1.0 guy". He likes shipping new things but he's not the kind of person to spend a decade cultivating an ecosystem and refactoring mature codebases.
I'm really sorry you got burned by the early experience. It was a hard time for Dart users. It was a hard time on the team too. It felt like we were wandering in the wilderness for a while and struggling to agree on what language our users wanted us to build for them.
I think where we've landed is a much better product, but I'm sorry that our churn getting there caused you pain.
> It felt like we were wandering in the wilderness for a while and struggling to agree on what language our users wanted us to build for them.
And I really appreciate you saying this. I get that what I'm saying is harsh and probably comes off as whiny/ungrateful. I'm mostly just venting because of the original "Why are people mad about dart in HN" comment and explaining my position there.
Dart does look like it's moving forward in a good direction and I wish it all the best. It's certainly great that the language and ecosystem are seeing a fair bit more adoption.
I'm really sorry you got burned by the early experience. It was a hard time for Dart users. It was a hard time on the team too. It felt like we were wandering in the wilderness for a while and struggling to agree on what language our users wanted us to build for them.
I think where we've landed is a much better product, but I'm sorry that our churn getting there caused you pain.