The import statement from a project I am currently working on:
import std/[asyncdispatch, asyncfile, asyncnet, base64, httpcore, logging, math, monotimes, os, strformat, strutils, terminal, times]
Now imagine having to go find and manage third party dependencies for all these. I can't understate how important a strong standard library is to a language; which is (one reason) why I love Nim.
While I agree with you, I am aware there is not a single answer to this
Having a large standard library slows down compiler/language development as more moving parts gets locked inside a potential independent project. Nim has huge potential but is maintained by a small team. I'd guess it would be much easier to split std and compiler development into two separate projects, but there are major overlapping areas here.