So why isn’t the world full of brilliant software written in Lisp? Surely having a powerful language like that will make developers use it? And even if the non-Lisp enthusiasts don’t “get it” how come the Lisp enthusiasts isn’t blowing the rest of us away with awesome software? Honest question.
It is a good question and one with many nuances. There are large software applications out there written in Lisp and other "fringe" languages that intersect with everyday life but they are hidden away in various corporate infrastructures.
Software trends develop for many reasons, not all of them logical. The time for Lisp being used as a general programming language may have passed, or the right set of circumstances have not yet come together. It is very difficult to predict programming language winners. What seems obvious in retrospect was not clear at all at the moment.
I would like Lisp/Scheme/Racket to blow people away with awesome software. Questions raised about price are quite valid. Forcing people to use Emacs is not a path to greater Lisp adoption. There are those of us who have found career niches using Lisp, but there needs to a better effort both in education and tools.
Resurrecting old Lisp environments and dragging them into the present day probably isn't the best solution. Perhaps the best solution is a VSCode environment coupled with real-world examples. More Todo lists and CRUD editors as examples haven't done a lot of good in driving adoption.
Your questions might make some uncomfortable, but I like that you are asking them!
