I find the conclusion, that there should be a Python 2.8 which maintains backwards compatibility and which adopts some of the newer 3.x language features, to be

I find the conclusion, that there should be a Python 2.8 which maintains backwards compatibility and which adopts some of the newer 3.x language features, to be misguided and uninformed. What the author of this article is suggesting is precisely what Python 2.7 is. Python 2.6 was the last 2.x release that brought new features to the language. 2.7 is only about back porting 3.x language features as a "temporary" stop gap measure until 3.x reaches maturity, both as a language and through 3rd party library support. It is precisely this kind of thinking that is going to "kill Python," not the language itself.