The right tool for the job is anything that gives you the power to get shit done.
Maintainability is secondary if you can't do the job in the first place. Think about it.
I think that using Haskell in the industry is somewhat irresponsible if you live in a third world nation like Chile. You can't find haskell hackers here! You create maintainability problems!
It is clearly not my fault to be intelligent, know some haskell and live in Chile. Can you blame me?
Certainly, I couldn't have done what I did without Haskell, or with more traditional languages, like C++.
The most challenging task I've done with Haskell, was to find the right combination of parameters in orden to sum an array of satellital images, preserving a set of constrains. I couldn't have dreamed of doing that without Haskell. It was the right choice for the job.
When they discovered the tools I've used, they recognized the problem, but they treated me bad, so I search for another job.
It never occurs to me that a company could be "powered" by Haskell.
In my old job, I used haskell for everything from satellital image analysis to the web frontend, but I didn't tell anyone. Specially I didn't tell my bosses.
When they discovered my functional tendencies, they were upset and worried. They feel betrayed, but it was too late. The company was an "haskell powered company".
I give them an edge over the other companies in the field, but when I leave, they were orphaned and unable to hire a new Haskell programmer (I live in Chile, a very imperative nation).
Too bad for them, but for me, it was "pure" functional fun.
I think she is a little bit neurotic, and she missed all the evolutionary stuff - that we are hardwired for social interaction.
I live an overly solitary life, and I crave for company. My social circle is nearly empty, no GF, and almost all my friends have moved to other cities, so I have just one close friend.
Damn, I need to go out. I need more human contact, not less.
I think that ESR should employ a more radical license for his programs: the "do what the fuck you want to" public license.
If RMS want to dress like St Ignacious, do what the fuck you want.
If RMS wants to be the new Che Guevara, do what the fuck you want, man.
ESR is libertarian, and libertarianism is all about deploying that kind of license in your personal life.
RMS is not a fanatic. He's passionate, and I like his passion and his cause.
I don't think that engineering pragmatism is politically neutral. Sure, you can write a fine piece of software, but Who controls the software? For me, that's the crucial question, and I think is a very pragmatic question, indeed.
Had Homer been german, they would never have questioned a national hero.