Aryeh Gregor wrote:
I don't know how seriously these suggestions will be taken in practice by the powers that be, but I hope I've made a detailed and cogent enough case to make at least some impact.
In large part, the problems and solutions are obvious (you pointed out most of them, and this is hardly the first time this has come up). The issue is that those in power (those who sign the paychecks and employment contracts) are deliberately choosing to ignore these problems and their solutions.
This isn't an "assumption of bad faith" and I won't hear anything of the sort. It's the reality. The problems are obvious; the solutions are obvious. What isn't obvious is why certain people in executive positions have chosen to ignore the problems. It would take a matter of minutes to shutdown the private IRC channels and private mailing lists. It would take one order from one of the members of the executive team for substantive code review and deployment to take place. But the current reality is that if it isn't part of "usability" or fundraising, it doesn't get any type of attention or priority.
MZMcBride