Alex, the more important point here is not the goodness or badness of rollback, it is the gross disregard for the wikipedia community that JuLef (sp?) had by implementing this procedure in the face of significant clear and present opposition. Even if this were the best thing since sliced bread, which I do not believe it is, its implementation opens the door to further marginalization of the community processes that have allowed wikipedia to survive its exponential growth.
So, shall we start promoting more sysops based on bureaucratic whim? Shall we proceed to delete all userpage quotations on a lark without discussion? How about admins speedy deleting articles with minor sourcing issues, claiming A7 without recourse for a discussion?
This is a gross violation of process, and there isn't even a good option for the community to respond as there are extremely few people who can access the wikicode itself.
Even when Jimbo wanted to implement credentialing standards after the EssJay issue, the community had an open and frank discussion about it _without and before_ implementation by fiat.
This developer has exhibited extremely poor judgment and a gross disregard for the WIkipedia community, and his actions should be reversed, if for no other reason than commitment to our core policies that major changes require consensus.
--Avi