When people start working around the public API by calling private methods it's because the framework is being used in a way that wasn't planned for. If we coul

When people start working around the public API by calling private methods it's because the framework is being used in a way that wasn't planned for. If we could adapt the public API to provide the required functionality then the framework would over time become more adaptable. The issue then becomes a social one, how to organise and consolidate the customisations that everyone makes. Github uses the forking and pull request functionality to address exactly this issue. It allows developers to maintain a version of a framework with their own customisations. Any of these customisations that would be useful to enough other developers can then be incorporated into the original framework.