Well, first off it's just a suggestion so take it with a grain of salt and ultimately do what works for you.
But I see your point and I did struggle with whether to include it or not. I think me wanting to share the great work I see Shriram Krishnamurthi (https://cs.brown.edu/~sk/) and others (Matthias Felleisen, http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/ for another example) are doing and have been doing for decades to advance Computer Science education and really tackle the tough problems pushed me to include it in the end.
I'm just a fan of their work and this post felt like a great time to mention it.
However, I do share your feelings that most people should just jump in and learn Python as their first language. It's easy to get started, batteries included and there's plenty of resources and people to help them if they get stuck.
But I see your point and I did struggle with whether to include it or not. I think me wanting to share the great work I see Shriram Krishnamurthi (https://cs.brown.edu/~sk/) and others (Matthias Felleisen, http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/ for another example) are doing and have been doing for decades to advance Computer Science education and really tackle the tough problems pushed me to include it in the end.
I'm just a fan of their work and this post felt like a great time to mention it.
However, I do share your feelings that most people should just jump in and learn Python as their first language. It's easy to get started, batteries included and there's plenty of resources and people to help them if they get stuck.