On the other hand, it means we've now had point and minor releases that broke everything (1.9, 1.8.7, and I think even one or two of the 1.8.7 patch releases a

On the other hand, it means we've now had point and minor releases that broke everything (1.9, 1.8.7, and I think even one or two of the 1.8.7 patch releases actually backported breaking 1.9 features), while the major release is apparently one where nothing from the prior release should break. I'm not convinced that means they've 'learned their lesson' so much as that they still don't know how to version things. We'll see how 2.1 goes, I guess.