I also agree with everything.
I would be happy to mirror a real blockchain testnet on my machines and run tests on it, provided there are clear instructions on how to do it. Will obviously modify steem.supply to work on both networks, the way ETH uses mainnet, Rinkeby, etc.
Probably the only way I would differ is about the incremental hardforks, like one feature per hardfork. There are many factors to be considered, and one big upgrade every few months is easier to be adjusted to than just smaller things. I think mostly in terms of user's expectations here, and not in technical or coding terms, because in those terms it obviously makes sense to go baby steps. But as a regular Joe I want to have less of a cognitive pressure on the actual usage (oh, shit they changed this thing again, when did it happen, etc..)
All in all, I agree HF 20 was actually a failure and should be recognized by everybody involved as such.
As an entrepreneur, I know oh very well that the most important and long lasting lessons (which served me so well along the path) were learned from failures recognized as failures and not disguised in "successes".