> a matter of not having the will to fix it based on some kind of traditionalism
Do you know what happens when Python does summon the will to fix obviously broken things? The Python 2->3 migration happens. (Perl 6 didn't manage any better, either.) Now "Python 3 is the brand" and the idea of version 4 can only ever be entertained as a joke.
Yes, good point. Compared to how the Erlang community has handled decades of change Python does not exactly deserve the beauty prize. The lack of forethought - not to be confused with a lot of hot air - on some of these decisions is impressive. I think that the ability to track developments in near realtime is in conflict with that though. If you want your language to be everything to everybody then there will be some broken bones along the way.
That sounds like it is absolutely fixable to me, but more of a matter of not having the will to fix it based on some kind of traditionalism. I've used python, a lot. But it is stuff like this that is just maddeningly broken for no good reason at all that has turned me away from it. So as long as I have any alternative I will avoid python because I've seen way too many accidents on account of stuff like this and many lost nights of debugging only to find out that an easily avoidable issue became - once again - the source of much headscratching.