"Backward compatibility" is holding back creativity a fair bit, I would think. You can build two completely different cathedrals, both surviving the ages. But s

"Backward compatibility" is holding back creativity a fair bit, I would think. You can build two completely different cathedrals, both surviving the ages. But straying from the fork/exec pattern would make you completely incompatible with the current software landscape, and leave you with no users, and no lasting impact, no matter how "elegant" your solution is.