Lead time

Finished reading the chapter on the history of language development this morning. One thing that really hit me was the amount of time it takes to get a language out the door. I realize that designing a language is no small thing and neither is building a good implementation, but I would have thought 5 or 6 years would be enough time to do that. It appears to be closer to 10. Many languages put something out in less time, but the version that gained wide acceptance is usually a decade after the idea got a green light.