> Personal speculation but I blame the "everything is an extension" model - it was meant to reduce fragmentation and allow clients with different featuresets to interoperate
I could be wrong, but that reads like you suggest that there is an alternative to the "extension model".
However, any solution where standardization and implementations are independent entities, and thereby experience a sufficient degree of freedom, will have a trajectory to a situation where you have a robust core specification and optional extensions.
Think about protocols like SMTP and DNS—each has a foundational core that’s been expanded upon by numerous optional features.
I could be wrong, but that reads like you suggest that there is an alternative to the "extension model".
However, any solution where standardization and implementations are independent entities, and thereby experience a sufficient degree of freedom, will have a trajectory to a situation where you have a robust core specification and optional extensions.
Think about protocols like SMTP and DNS—each has a foundational core that’s been expanded upon by numerous optional features.