How would you try to get developers on board with a FoC solution (eg. VPL), that is turning into a product? Let's say the product can be shown to perform better from a technical point of view than its mainstream alternatives, integrates well with conventional code, and also has a kind of "coolness" quality to it. How and through what channels would you approach developers to try it / use it?

Hoo boy, that's a big question. Highly contingent. Answer will vary from time to time. Any answer will only work once, so the follow-up question to anyone claiming to have an answer is, "so why are you not rich yet?" When it comes to distribution channels, the medium is the message[1]. What you're building should inform what market segment you decide to focus on initially, and that will affect your entire strategy. [1]

There is no mainstream VPL. The top 10 languages in common use which are Excel, JS, Java, Swift, etc., are not visual, so really a VPL has a double acceptance problem, which is 1) introducing a new language, and 2) changing how you use a language (point and click, drag and drop) versus editing text and pressing RUN. Visual programming language projects like Luna are not having an easy time. I have great sympathy for people willing to throw their work into the meat grinder that is public opinion, which is governed by the most powerful force in the universe which is inertia. (i know that Inertia is not technically a force in physics, but in the human realm, inertia acts as a force, and like centrifugal force can be considered a virtual force).

Is the 'solution' proprietary or not? That seems more relevant than whether its 'better' in other respects

@Kartik Agaram , @Edward de Jong / Beads Project : Thanks for the input. What you’re saying seems to confirm my assumptions, that is, the product has to have the distribution baked in, and doing that with a VPL presents an even harder problem. @jarm : The editor platform is largely proprietary, but the technologies that underpin it are all open source.