Erlang – overhyped or underestimated?

A 2008 critique of Erlang highlighted its Prolog-like syntax, inconsistent libraries, and perceived unsuitability for large teams. Experienced practitioners responded in comments, citing million-line Erlang codebases and frameworks like Nitrogen and Webmachine for web development. Commenters also noted the emergence of BEAM-targeted languages like Elixir and Reia to address syntax concerns. The thread captured early skepticism and community rebuttals that preceded Erlang's broader adoption in concurrent, distributed systems.