[erik_seaberg]

Fitting a C compiler on a PDP-11 was an impressive achievement, but as a language it was a poor foundation to build anything reliable, and we still live with the consequences.

[pjmlp]

Especially taking into account the decade of systems languages predating that feat, and everything else happening outside Bell Labs.

Had UNIX been a commercial product from the get go, and most likely C wouldn't have taken off as it did.