[smallmancontrov]

That was a front door not a back door! They were 100% open about the fact that it was there and most people wanted it to be there. If it didn't exist they would have to invent it. Why should I be the slightest bit upset about this?

[nsteel]

You shouldn't. It's an entirely sensible thing for them to have done. Integrating IO and test is a massive time sink, it's a chore. People don't spend much time on it and it easily goes wrong and the whole thing is toast. Mandating the use of a fixed block to solve all this, at the sacrifice of some flexibility is what the majority would want. I've been doing this 15 years, I have experience of taping out real-life products that need to work. I can only assume the person complaining has different experience.