[tom_mellior]

> Now compare that to the number of applications or libraries (in any language) that directly or indirectly depend on a library written in C or C++.

Every significant C++ library I've ever used had its own stupid intransparent memory use conventions and invariants and segfaulted on you if you unknowingly violated them. The only difference is that you call some libraries "libraries" and other libraries "runtimes". I don't think that divide is all that sharp.

> a GC probably won't have a positive effect on most programs written in idiomatic Rust, therefore there's no need

It would allow new idioms that many people would find useful because not all code is code where performance is more inportant than clarity.

> (contrary to what you claim)

I didn't claim that Rust needs a GC to be Rust, I claimed that Rust needs a GC to be a more popular, more-widely-regarded-as-useful language than today's Rust.