A few thoughts:
People, in my opinion, should probably give up on any big hopes of Bay12Games doing any significant outsourcing, or making DF an open source project. There isn't much incentive for either brother to ever do so, and doesn't seem to be any will or desire.
I don't see anything in those statements/follow-ups that precludes ToadyOne working on the interface, himself, at some point in the future, though... Infact, I recall him suggesting that if he ever needed a large increase in donations, that that's the first thing he'd be likely to turn to.
So I feel it's probably a matter of his priorities. Interface wouldn't be easy for him to do, and it's not his favorite thing, so it's low on the list right now.
Will it be the same situation 10 years down the road? How about 20? All we have are guesses, and I'm guessing that at some point, he might get the urge towards a more polished product, because that might be what gives him satisfaction, at that point in time.
Might.
It's his perogative, and that's ok, because having DF "under one roof" has so far resulted in a great game. In any case, a happy ToadyOne is better for everyone than an unhappy ToadyOne.
He hasn't shied away from grungework in the past or present, though, so if he ever decides that the time is right to improve the interface, I feel confident he wouldn't drag his feet. He also reads and replies to a significant amount of Forum posts, so he attaches enough importance to our opinions and sentiments to make himself aware of them. If he feels he isn't entirely up to a given task on his own, he knows that we exist as a source of inspiration.
For that matter, creating DF has to be a learning project. Might there someday conceivably appear a desire to take what he's learned and create a 3rd edition of Armok from the ground up? This scenario would then actually be simpler for Bay12Games to follow through with, than it might for another company, since there would be no question of legal rights or ownership of the title, and everything that falls under it.
Another point in the favor of keeping DF firmly and entirely in their hands.
Might not someone simply offer Toady a large chunk of cash, along with a request (as opposed to a
demand) to improve any given aspect of the game? Without other strings attached, or undue arrogance on the part of the donator, such a thing might become a pretty powerful motivation, since it wouldn't threaten his ownership of the game, or ability to make choices about it, and it also wouldn't detract from the donations of others, or general opinion.
Has Toady ever suggested he was above
crass bribery an occasional exercise in enlightened materialism?
Toady's basically said that as long as he can earn a living at it, and as long as it's something he still wants to do, that he more or less intends to keep working on Dwarf Fortress, or atleast Bay12Games products, for the rest of his working life. Considering that he's a little younger than I am, and the nonphysical nature of the job, that could be a very long time.
Plenty of time for hope
for a decent mouse interface.