i never get any of the problems you speak of when i program. i don't usually use libraries, but when i do, all i have to do is download them, drop them into my scripts directory, require the library, and use whatever the forget i need. if i need it for another project, i copy the library over. if part of the library is broken, i see if i'm doing something wrong, then i just look for a fix, either that or just redownload it if a new version is available.
but I still think that Lua goes way too far in the "minimalist stdlib and language" mantra.
at first, i wasn't happy that it was missing a lot of what would be nice to have, then i just kept using it, realizing it's all unnecessary and i don't need it, and if it's that important, i'll grab a library/make an implementation.
usually the systems that embed the language add what's missing that allow you to do everything you need, so it's not that much of a problem anyway.
I also find it humourous that it's one of the few languages that has a dedicated operator for the length of arrays/lists.
how is that funny? how is being able to type "#" instead of having to call a function to get the length funny?
and it's not just arrays/lists (they're called tables, mind you), you can use the same thing to find the length of a string.
but wait, before we clog up the thread even more, what the forget are you doing?
are you seriously just sitting here finding as many things about lua as you can to hate/laugh at? i don't understand the purpose of your constant nitpicking - all i see is "lua sucks because it's not python/whatever language you prefer"