I am not on any side in this battle, but the issue was closed only once, and after users disagreed with the author's reasoning for why it behaved the way it did

I am not on any side in this battle, but the issue was closed only once, and after users disagreed with the author's reasoning for why it behaved the way it did, the author fixed it the same day it was closed... Doesn't seem as bad as you are portraying it... certainly not "lost all its reputation for [you]" bad?