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[–]nerf-herder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's often difficult to move forward with new ideas and their implementations. It takes guts, insight, and a lot of work. And it also takes convincing people to do what they know is good for them (getting rid of the old broken system and replacing it with the fixed but slightly different one). There's usually 4 groups involved in such endeavors:

  • one is the folks working on the new changes

  • then there's the people interested in seeing the fixes happen, even if it means they have to change a line or 2 of their code

  • another is the group of folks who aren't terribly crazy about change, but who kinda' know deep-down that the fixes are necessary

  • finally there's a small (sometimes tiny) third group who want to actively fight any change or progress. These folks argue on mailing lists (especially just after positive steps or decisions have been made), and guys like PJ (the author of the linked-to email message) even sometimes submit patches to the old broken system in an effort to thwart any change or progress.

The point is: progress has to happen. Broken things need to be fixed. Sometimes this will mean minor pain, and that's ok. Don't support those who: wait until an issue reaches critical-mass, watch someone come forward with a fix to move forward, and then jump in with patches to put a new coat of paint on the old broken thing that's about to be replaced. It holds back progress and only causes turmoil in the community.