> I am at this stage still the one who understands the HN code best Hopefully not sounding offensive, but objectively: this is probably because the HN codebase

> I am at this stage still the one who understands the HN code best Hopefully not sounding offensive, but objectively: this is probably because the HN codebase is a complex ball of mud written in an obscure, original language, further obfuscated by a rabbit-hole filled journey of macros/DSLs. Ok, maybe that was a little offensive. And, I'm not one to talk about language choice (much less language design), as I use PHP heavily every day. But if PG is going to back off from the code ("I was encouraged to write it before I left"), then maybe it's time for a rewrite in a more familiar language, and maybe it's time to open source it properly and actively. While I think the current Arc situation epitomizes the hacker culture, I disagree that an open source rewrite in a more popular language could not also function in the same manner (if not more so). Edit: "ball of mud" isn't necessarily all negative. I'm borrowing from a supposed Joel Moses quote: "APL is like a beautiful diamond - flawless, beautifully symmetrical. But you can't add anything to it. If you try to glue on another diamond, you don't get a bigger diamond. Lisp is like a ball of mud. Add more and it's still a ball of mud - it still looks like Lisp."