Reasons why I no longer develop my apps

> A few months ago I stopped selling my Mac applications (PopDo and FreelanceStation)

I looked at these. On PopDo, you mistake two completely different macOS versions (your site says "Works on macOS 14 Sequoia" and of course, Sequoia is 15 not 14). This alone would have me closing the tab on a developer's site.

So I thought, well let me check the FreelanceStation page and the latest release says "Works on Ventura" (which is from 2022).

> I never made any real money out of my apps that would make me consider staying.

I think the two immediate details I noticed on your product pages might be a good indicator of why these things didn't make money. The types of users who pay for Mac apps have an eye for detail and usually run recent macOS releases.

I wouldn't have considered downloading software from a small developer with major errors on the system requirements, or a version from 3 years ago being listed as "Works with..."

Lisp is awesome, but not everything is SwiftUI's fault here. Marketing is an incredible undertaking and starts with attention to detail, especially in the Mac market.

The sense of security is provided by a good test suite (which you still need) plus SBCL type annotations.

I've never managed to achieve that (the comparable sense of security), which may be on me.

Out of interest, have you worked in one of these typed languages -- Haskell, Elm, maybe OCaml (haven't tried it), Idris, Rust? I think they feel very different in this axis compared to C/C++/Objective-C/Java. Not necessarily better (I am still reminded of the term "bondage-and-discipline language" from the Jargon File[1]), but different.

[1]: http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/B/bondage-and-discipline-lan...

That's true of any language or project to be fair. Big egos are everywhere in software development.

I'm saying, based on my observation, it's more pronounced in CL's culture, not that it doesn't happen in other languages.

I didn't give any career advice at all. Why did you think this was it? My career advice would be to keep developing in whatever established and practical language you are using and get paid to use if that's what you want.

Ah, then I accept your advice. I happen to like programming, but I also view it as a practical skill and a means to an end. That's the lens through which I was viewing your post. If your central point was that you personally enjoy Lisp, then I don't have an opinion one way or the other.

I also view it a as practical skill. I'm paid to write in a practical language which is mutating into a monster I no longer consider fun to write in.

But as I started a new project which eventually could be a business, then I can use whatever language I want, as long as it's practical for my use case. Why would I use any other language than one that I already know and like? It would make no sense. If you were to start your project, you would probably pick a language you enjoy using, rather than the one you are paid to use, unless it happens to be the same.

I have used CL before, but not in anger.

Yes. I used Clozure CL before and now I use Lem as editor. But I stick to SBCL (at least for now, though I can see myself using CCL again when it supports ARM64). As for LispWorks, I installed the Personal edition and played with it. I can't afford it (actually I can, but I have to find a reason other than tinkering).

Blog post author here: True. But there's no reason not to write when you are in anger about other languages that you do use every single day. I guess I was just venting and also reaffirming my intention to use CL. I have used it before in a previous job for a quick tool and I know it can be used for more complex stuff, which I have already started building.

I haven't been writing a major piece of software in Lisp for 10 years, so I can't write about that. But I can compare how it feels to write software in other languages vs Common Lisp.

And also, Lisp is a blip compared to Rust or Go right now, so I don't know why it's so terrible to talk about it. People will keep talking about the things they like as much as the things they don't like. And it's fine.

"Used in anger" means for a serious goal. It's an analogy for firing a gun in combat rather than just for training or testing.

Thanks for the correction.

Please do continue to write about Lisp.

The wheel has been reinvented in different shapes and for different purposes for a long time. It's not necessarily a bad thing. You don't want to keep using stone wheels, or wooden wheels. Have you ever seen modern sci-fi wheels developed for very specific purposes and with specific properties that make them better than just plain-old wheel?

The whole C land, including build tools, old unix utils, is a security mess waiting to be exploited, and it's going to be exploited. Just look how easy it's to break everything with a single dot. It's time people realize we can't bet the world's security on C.

Please use Ada or Rust with modern tooling.

If you add the dot to Rust it doesnt break?

People want cheap software, and that’s what they get.