It was always against the rules to do that. Nothing changed, except (from what I heard, I don't use Reddit anymore so correct me if I'm wrong) mods stopped enforcing the rule with regards to Musk, Musk put the spotlight on it, and Reddit (a shitty corporation trying desperately to be profitable) couldn't really do anything but enforce the rule.
It is true that Huffman is an asshole and probably likes the guy, but if it was some other public figure I don't think the outcome would be different.
I guess it could allow multiple funding models. Instance A is ad supported, instance B is a paid service. Not exciting for us self hosters, but there is possibility there.
I think it's because it's work. Its hard to have any positive feelings toward a tool used primarily to talk to annoying coworkers and bosses. It doesn't matter how good it bad it is.
Lol, "difficult decisions."