Stonesense, Text Will Be Text
These two are both covered by a modular GUI API, which the OP suggested, and seemingly every poster after him has agreed with as highest priority for modding,
IF they agree with modding efforts of any sort.
1) Core changes allow more mod changes.
Yes, more core changes allow a higher theoretical ceiling on the number of raws that could be included. But until the actual raws are included, theoretical ceilings don't help with mods at all.
Right now, there are, let's say 500 possible raw tags you could add, or whatever, for existing features. And maybe 200 exist.
If you add more core code, the total possible number might jump up to 700. But if you still actually only have 200, the modding power is the same as before.
And if you make the ceiling go up to 700 and then the number of implemented raws go to 300, you're still just as well off as you would have been making them go to 300 also when the ceiling as back at 500.
Hopefully I'm making some sort of sense. In short: ceilings on the possible number of RAWs don't matter until one of the ceiling has actually been hit and is actually limiting things. Which is not currently the case. It's sort of like making the bottom of a narrow-necked bottle larger and then hoping it will make it pour faster... You have to widen the bottleneck where the bottleneck is for maximum efficiency.
points 2-3: I don't care whose code you call it.
4. Since there are a lot more man-hours available from nine women than one, this implies that nine women can give birth to a child in one month.
A valid point, but this is just a distinction between: efficiency of meeting Toady's eventual goal versus efficiency of generating the most fun for players.
These are different goals. But since Toady's can't be finished for another 20 years, it seems necessary to cater to the more short term goals in the meantime, to keep people's interest and donations coming in to make the Toady goal feasible.
At least in my opinion. It's not NECESSARILY true. Toady could go get part time jobs and fund himself that way if he deems it to be a faster route to his end goal, and if he cares about that more than community enjoyment in the meantime. Which he might, I have no idea.