But 28 years ago with Java, it had a clear edge in a certain space. It came with a ton of libraries, so you didn't have to write a bunch of code. And it had garbage collection, so a bunch of problems just went away. For code that didn't have to be close to the metal, it was clearly superior. And it was pretty easy to learn for C++ developers.
Rust may have an advantage in certain places (no segfaults is a definite win). But replacing working Python scripts is almost certainly not that place. Also, for a C++ developer, Rust isn't as easy to learn as Java.
Rust may get there. But don't use Java's success to predict Rust's trajectory.
Java had a lot of things going on for it. Huge marketing push, whole set of everything both language and lib-wise, and killer domain which was SIM and mobile which if you wanted to do it was your only choice. Rust has no such things at the level Java had when it rose. It's more of an organic grassroots movement certain companies have started to pick up.
Yea it did, and its important when making comparisons to not glaze over it. Java with the, write once and run anywhere mantra due to the JVM was a huge deal. Granted, in some ways it didn't pan out as well as advertised (embedded Java), but for an enterprise desktop application, it was definitely a huge win for the time.
Rust may have an advantage in certain places (no segfaults is a definite win). But replacing working Python scripts is almost certainly not that place. Also, for a C++ developer, Rust isn't as easy to learn as Java.
Rust may get there. But don't use Java's success to predict Rust's trajectory.