> It's more of hack as you go and hope the whole thing doesn't blow up until you, possibly, get a chance to rewrite or build an improved version That's certain

> It's more of hack as you go and hope the whole thing doesn't blow up until you, possibly, get a chance to rewrite or build an improved version That's certainly true a lot of the time. I disagree regarding legal/political cases like this though, since a "the whole thing blowing up" (in the sense of public outcry) is the rewrite/improvement. The aim of the game is to accrue as much power, capability, mindshare and precedent as possible, but slowly enough that the frog doesn't jump out of the water.