I think this is an OK idea. But I think it would have been better to post on mailing lists and contact people to get "buy in" rather than just opening up PRs.

I think this is an OK idea. But I think it would have been better to post on mailing lists and contact people to get "buy in" rather than just opening up PRs. I also find the "respect" wording of the PRs a little presumptuous and probably caused some push-back.