No one is forced to upgrade to a newer version either. Now, perhaps the problem in your eyes is the old version isn't being maintained. But I see the opposite:

No one is forced to upgrade to a newer version either. Now, perhaps the problem in your eyes is the old version isn't being maintained. But I see the opposite: maintaining two versions indefinitely is the problem. The Haskell community is not infinitely big, nor growing fast enough, that if e.g. 1/2 went to Idris and 1/2 stayed, it wouldn't be catastrophic. Making the changes we need to make, and then making it as easy as possible for everyone to migrate, I think is the best way.