> Useless: the server was written in Go and the logs had no information about where the error was originating. [...] In a language with exceptions there'd have been a stack trace that pinpointed exactly where the error originated

Go has support for exceptions, not to mention providing runtime access to stack trace information in general. They are most definitely there if your application requirements necessitate, which it seems yours did. Unfortunately, language support only helps if your developers actually speak the language. Go in particular seems especially prone to attracting developers who are familiar with other languages, who insist on continuing to try to write code in those other languages without consideration for how this one might be different and then blame the technology when things don't work out...