It's a fair point, which shows the underlying problem with e2e: if you don't have a BDFL who's willing to fight on this hill, the system will eventually break d

It's a fair point, which shows the underlying problem with e2e: if you don't have a BDFL who's willing to fight on this hill, the system will eventually break down. This implies a huge amount of constant friction that I don't believe is sustainable over the long term. Most engineering organizations don't have "excellent" leadership, and so most orgs are well served by having team dynamics such that they don't depend on that. A bunch of additional integration tests and a bit of formalization of the difficult parts that e2e tests (the sort of async message-passing stuff that has unpredictable bounds) seems like a far better alternative for most orgs.