Really cool. I think using standard JS or TS with a standard UI framework (like Vue, React, Svelte, etc.) would have attracted more contributors than Clojure.
But otherwise , I'm really looking forward that project !
I hear you! The thing is that sometimes (only sometimes) you do need to use the best technology for a project. In this case, Penpot's very own nature demands technology that is super-performant manipulating zillions of vectors and mathematical objects. I'm not saying you couldn't do this with standard JS or TS but to reach this status in 1 year we needed to go for this route. Anyway, we have plans for a more straightforward plugin contribution architecture so that shouldn't be a problem, but the "core core", yeah, it was our choice, same with SVG, a tough choice but it was worth the challenge. Thanks!!!
That seems totally fair, thanks for your response. If the core is powerful thx to the choice of tech while plugins can be contributed easily then it sounds like a great plan !