> not to read this blog post as a diplomatic pushback to the current efforts of SO leaders to make it more welcoming
Not at all, at least, that is not my intent. I do feel like the key items articulated there (SO as wiki, duplicate danger, competitive system of peer review, for practicing programmers) are not well understood by outsiders and peripheral members of the community, though.
Note that the Stack Overflow tour (which was and is quite good!) that explains what Stack Overflow is was perma-demoted to the footer... well, that used to be true, but actually I just checked now and it's gone altogether? The word "tour" doesn't appear on the SO homepage in incognito mode, at all. You can visit "help" (which is in the footer) and then, and only then, will it appear as a topbar.