[thomashabets2]

I did say "almost" every single language decision.

GC wasn't a failed experiment. OOP extremism was. And the latter is a bigger Java standout than GC.

Python predates Java and is still mainstream, and while (mostly) not garbage collected, but reference counted, language design wise it's not a big difference. There have been GCd Python implementations, proving that.

Being successful is not really a language design choice, so I wouldn't count that.

> The VM was another big one, and it also worked out.

As I explain in the blog post, the VM was a colossally bad mistake. The inspiration for the VM sounds like it was better. So looks like they took the ball and started running in the wrong direction.