Actually, I was technically a professional Tcl programmer in 1999, and I remember "uplevel" very well, because I got to watch as the MIT Scheme wizards put it through all its paces. Oh, the things those folks could do with Tcl. I really can't overstate how much fun it was to read their new libraries as they came out.
I admit I've forgotten most of my Tcl, though. Because I haven't had a compelling need to use it in ten years, so I haven't. See above.
Tcl is indeed "a different new world, like learning Scheme" (though Scheme has SICP, and Tcl has... what?) but this essay is not about "why Tcl makes a great academic paper" or "why Tcl is a great way to spend a Saturday night" but rather "why Tcl is not popular as a mainstream programming language". Being "mind-blowing" is not only not a path to mainstream popularity, but it's also a field with a lot of stiff competition: Scheme, Forth, Factor, Erlang, Io, Common Lisp, Haskell... several of these are on my personal todo list ahead of revisiting Tcl.
I admit I've forgotten most of my Tcl, though. Because I haven't had a compelling need to use it in ten years, so I haven't. See above.
Tcl is indeed "a different new world, like learning Scheme" (though Scheme has SICP, and Tcl has... what?) but this essay is not about "why Tcl makes a great academic paper" or "why Tcl is a great way to spend a Saturday night" but rather "why Tcl is not popular as a mainstream programming language". Being "mind-blowing" is not only not a path to mainstream popularity, but it's also a field with a lot of stiff competition: Scheme, Forth, Factor, Erlang, Io, Common Lisp, Haskell... several of these are on my personal todo list ahead of revisiting Tcl.