The skinny stdlib is always a mistake imo, because if you don't provide it, somebody else will, and it's unlikely to be as nice to work with for your users as a standard library implementation. In the case of C++, for instance, this lead to the boost era.

For all of Python's warts, it at least makes everyday structures and operations you might want to use fairly painless, and it keeps expression fairly standardized. Leave external libraries to build things that are actually interesting, rather than scaffolding and infrastructure that the language vendor is better off providing.

>The skinny stdlib is always a mistake imo, because if you don't provide it, somebody else will, and it's unlikely to be as nice to work with for your users as a standard library implementation. In the case of C++, for instance, this lead to the boost era.

I disagree, skinny stdlib is an option that you intentionally leave open. You let the ecosystem around you explore good solutions first before you commit early or exhaust the air in the room for better ideas.