This feels a lot like Patrick Rothfuss on his Kingkiller Chronicles. The creator has a fan base he doesn't want to disappoint and who will defend his honor as long as he can give them any evidence he's actually making progress, but all the evidence suggests he's actually lost interest or doesn't know where to go from here.
Not that there's anything wrong with losing interest in a hobby project. The problem with Elm is that it was pitched as more than a hobby project but then held so close to Evan's chest that no one else has been able to take over now that he's not maintaining it.
These comments are always the same: "Elm is great, but..." Then they dig up some drama about its creator with a years-old post. If the language is great, then maybe they should use it and stop fretting about the person who made it.
I couldn't care less about the creator or his drama, but I am a bit sad that a language with so much potential has been dropped instead of being handed over to the community.
>The creator has a fan base he doesn't want to disappoint and who will defend his honor as long as he can give them any evidence he's actually making progress
So yes, it's fair to say that you do care about the creator and his drama.
https://gotoaarhus.com/2023/sessions/2529/elm-on-the-backend