"How do you explain C, C++, Python, Ruby, Perl, Javascript, and PHP? None had very extensive marketing budgets."
I think a lot of these have larger marketing budgets than you imagine. I can't fathom the amount of money Microsoft spends promoting its C++ language tools, for example.
Regardless of whether languages other than Java become popular or not because of marketing, I still maintain that popularity and worthiness are not correlated. The majority of people may not eat cow dung, but they certainly don't eat really great pudding. They eat the same so-so pudding everyone else does, and most of them don't realize or don't care that it could be better. You will have nothing to "show" for coming up with a better pudding recipe unless you spend money on advertising, manufacturing, distribution, etc..
As for an example of worthiness, Lisp's advantages have been detailed one metric kerjillion times elsewhere. Macros, conditions, and the MOP are the usual suspects in the case of Common Lisp.
I think his point was not "why is Lisp not popular", but if it is so powerful, why has it not become more mainstream based upon that? If a language is truly as powerful as its advocates assert, should it need a marketing budget? Ruby, via Ruby on Rails, is famous, and has been used on lots of highly visible (successful?) projects, with no traditional marketing budget.
I think he's asking, if Lisp is so awesome, why doesn't someone ever do something awesome with it? It seems like a fair question.
I think a lot of these have larger marketing budgets than you imagine. I can't fathom the amount of money Microsoft spends promoting its C++ language tools, for example.
Regardless of whether languages other than Java become popular or not because of marketing, I still maintain that popularity and worthiness are not correlated. The majority of people may not eat cow dung, but they certainly don't eat really great pudding. They eat the same so-so pudding everyone else does, and most of them don't realize or don't care that it could be better. You will have nothing to "show" for coming up with a better pudding recipe unless you spend money on advertising, manufacturing, distribution, etc..
As for an example of worthiness, Lisp's advantages have been detailed one metric kerjillion times elsewhere. Macros, conditions, and the MOP are the usual suspects in the case of Common Lisp.