While I understand where you've coming from I think your attitude is dangerous. Implementing the SSL/TLS spec(s) is always going to be difficult while they are

While I understand where you've coming from I think your attitude is dangerous. Implementing the SSL/TLS spec(s) is always going to be difficult while they are in widespread use. That said refactoring the existing libraries (to make them more readable and understandable) and then auditing them (to gain confidence in their efficacy) is especially important given the nature of their applications. Doing the hard work of getting this right, or accepting the status quo and getting it wrong, will have a very real impact on the future of many, many people. Should the time come that changes have to be made to the standards themselves then we can debate the merits of breaking backwards compatibility. I value pragmatism more than most (I think) but there comes a point where the cost of not changing is higher than the cost of changing. I think we're there.