Although the articles arguments show that the decisions made were understandable and perhaps the "right decisions" for the language, there's a common theme that

Although the articles arguments show that the decisions made were understandable and perhaps the "right decisions" for the language, there's a common theme that backwards compatibility was a motivator. I'm not saying they should have broken backwards compatibility, but "This is actually the best way to do it," and, "This is the best way that we could do it given our tough situation," are two very different points. I don't really care about the latter when I'm evaluating whether I actually like the way it's done.