> the problem with Rust is that it just doesn't have critical mass and, frankly, I don't think it will ever have

Let’s check back in a couple of years!

I think it already has. It just isn't very visible to us. Rust becomes easy (especially the borrow checker) once you know how the hardware works. This is unfortunately true for even non-system programming in Rust. However, those who deal with hardware - OS devs, web engine devs, DB engine devs, etc - can see the problem and appreciate what Rust offers. That's why we see big companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and even Apple adopt Rust quickly. It's just not visible to us on the surface.