In many ways, this is where Haskell is as a language right now: we've compromised on many aspects because it was expedient to do so. But Haskell also has a rep

In many ways, this is where Haskell is as a language right now: we've compromised on many aspects because it was expedient to do so. But Haskell also has a reputation for pushing the envelope. Who knew you could get away with not allowing side-effects in arbitrary expressions? Who knew you could actually implement a lazy language, and actually have it perform quicker than interpreted languages? These are things that could have been decided on a case-by-case basis, but Haskell changed the rules of the game by asking you, on a case-by-case basis, to opt out of these features. In the real world, this has a very powerful influence on the library ecosystem. But I don't think I disagree with you. Just clarifying a point. :-)