I had a similar load-path concept in rainbow for a while (using "ARC_PATH" from the environment), but recently realised I could delete a lot of code by assuming everything was under the current working directory. But I'm not entirely sure that this assumption will scale as arc proceeds to world domination.
I wonder if the kind of packaging/distribution infrastructure you mention is a prerequisite for a great language, or is it the other way around? Afaik the rubygems concept was developed quite a bit after ruby became popular. There are some amazing libraries in anarki, and some of them are solutions looking for a problem. What application do you have in mind that would be simpler/shorter with CPAN-style support in place?
There was a time in Ireland (where I'm from) when the government built lots of roads because neighbouring England had a thriving economy, and lots of roads. It turned out the dependency was the other way around.
btw thanks for the new vocabulary: I'm going to "whomp" up some functions now :))
