That the language authors concluded C was done, there was no point collaborating with WG14, and there were better tools to do their operating systems research on.
> there were better tools to do their operating systems research on.
I think that's the key, Ritchie, Thompson, Pike were interested in OS research while people that love C today just want a simple and powerful language with manual memory management. It is not the first time in history when the creation has a separate life from the creator's wishes.
