I am generally not a fan of the standards committee nor what it is trying to do with the language. The word "Object" used in C++ land has a different meaning than the same word used in C land since there is an "Object Model" in C++ while there is none in C. Hence trying to map C++ object concepts onto C does not even make sense in the general case. But because of C++'s evolution having started as "C with classes" there is some mapping at the set-of-bits level which is where the POD (with all its limitations) comes in.

I am fully with Stroustrup in arguing that C++ should strive for as much compatibility with C as possible in the spirit of the original (see ref. at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compatibility_of_C_and_C%2B%2B...). But sadly the rest of standards committee don't seem to want this which i believe is a huge mistake. On the other side, the C standards committee should be very careful what inspiration they take from C++ in the evolution of the language since it was designed as a "minimal" language which was one of the main factors in its success. Whether people call it "primitive", "well behind other languages" etc. does not matter. You definitely don't want C turning into C++-lite. Hence IMO the conclusions stated in the last few paragraphs of the submitted article are quite right.