[shadowgovt]

Correct. And to add to this answer slightly: there might not be enough information because to keep all the context around, the compiler might need exponentially more memory (even quadratically more memory might be too much; program sizes can really add up and that can matter) to keep enough state to give a coherent error across phases / passes.

Back in the day when RAM wasn't so cheap that you could find it in the bottom of a Rice Krispies box, I worked with a C++ codebase that required us to find a dedicated compilation machine because a standard developer loadout didn't have enough RAM to hold one of the compilation units in memory. Many of these tools (gcc in particular, given its pedigree) date back to an era where that kind of optimization mattered and choosing between more eloquent error messages or the maximum scope of program you could practically write was a real choice.