On topic: I agree that upstream-provided 3rd party binaries are not a good solution to this particular problem. That is the type of solution that works in a closed environment like a corporate CI system, but it should not be the default.

Off topic: I don't understand why the article repeatedly says the Rust compiler or procedural macros are already fast, even "plenty fast". Aren't they slower or about as slow as C++, which is notorious for being frustratingly slow, especially for local, non-distributed builds?

"Plenty fast" would mean fast enough for some simple use-case. e.g., "1G ethernet is plenty fast for a home network, but data centers can definitely benefit from faster links". i.e., fast enough you won't notice anything faster when doing your average user's daily activities, but certainly not fast enough for all users or activities.

The Rust compiler is then in no way "plenty fast". It has many benefits, and lots of hard work has gone into it, even optimizing it, but everyone would notice and benefit from it being any amount faster.