I feel like these aren't very "hidden", yet any time I talk about these or their developers to my colleagues, nobody knows what I'm on about.

Partly this is due to corporate controlled media, where newer languages aren't getting the coverage they deserve. We keep getting flooded with the same old languages, as if there is nothing else or new out there. People are often not getting the information on possible options and promising developments.

> Crystals primary niche: web development

Is it really?

Found this, https://mint-lang.com

I tried this awhile back, but the empty template project its compiler can generate to get started compiled to 2 MiB of JavaScript.

> the empty template project its compiler can generate to get started compiled to 2 MiB of JavaScript.

Ouch!

https://luckyframework.org/ https://amberframework.org/ https://kemalcr.com/

Those projects look interesting but does that really confirm the point of being a niche towards web-dev?

Also, a but off-topic but as a Rails user, I find both Lucky & Amber Framework very intriguing, both home pages got me sold directly and gave me the feeling of being Rails + performance.

Kemal seems like Crystals equivalent to Sinatra, which is cool, but doesn’t seem to offer anything other than being performant?

Crystal's Ruby syntax is a con for me. Pony could be great but the community is being mismanaged terribly, it's a real shame. I think Julia is suffering the same fate as D for general programming. It's got a lot going for it but it's not interesting enough except for certain niches, and hasn't gained enough momentum.