Well, I was
thinking about people running the Wikipedia code (other than
Wikipedia itself). They will have MySQL3 databases that require the
reverse_timestamp hack - will we continue to keep this cruft in the
Wikipedia code to support those people who don't want to migrate their
databases, or will just clean it up and tell them to migrate their
database, or stay with the old code (which is perfectly functionable,
mostly).
I, personally, am not the least bit interested in making the wikipedia
code easy to use for others. It's GPL, and open, so others can do with
it what they like, but my efforts will be 100% toward making Wikipedia
work, and nothing else. If that inconveniences others who might have
chosen to use the code, well, that's was their choice.
I do, on the other hand, concede that the ability for others to
install and use the code does help the code evolve; the more eyeballs
on it, the better. So I am willing to make a few concessions in
that direction, but only insofar as they serve the primary goal,
which is Wikipedia.
Fair enough. Big smileys from me. :)
--
Nick Reinking -- eschewing obfuscation since 1981 -- Minneapolis, MN