ML is a job?
No, an expression, as in "finishing them is a challenging task"
------------
Ha, another perilous thread

There are so many personal factors and assumptions going on. As much as some people may get pissed hearing such requests, I think they should understand that not all onlookers can tell:
- how many contributors there are
- who does what
- how many may come and go
- what each's priorities, capabilities and interests are
- what policies and goals are official, if any
- what is possible
- who "controls" ML, if anyone
Given that the project is run on a community, I don't think it's fair for one contributor to say "we" get pissed at this or that, or "our" priorities are such-and-such. How do I know there isn't some contributor who will be convinced by my views and decide to act on them? I can't know that, so I put my views and requests out there hoping it will resonate.
I totally understand that people work on ML on their own time. I also understand that people have their own motivations. My motivation is to use the tool, to provide others with a great tool, and to help shift the industry towards excellent affordable film making products. I don't expect everyone to share my motivations, but that doesn't stop me from evangelizing them, nor do I think it should.
I think that "What is ML's goal?" is a great rhetorical question. That is, I think for anyone to answer it absolutely is a disservice to the community and off-putting to people with different hopes. Who is anyone to claim what ML may and may not be? It can be whatever a motivated group or individual can make of it, right?
If I say "more beginners would use ML if blah blah blah", I don't want someone replying "No, because ML is for power users". I'd rather hear, "MY goal is to help power users". This way I understand that he is speaking for himself and his own investment of time. It short-circuits a contentious discussion that makes people feel unnecessarily defensive or disenfranchised.
I'm guessing that most ML contributors don't chip-in for ego-stroking, and most wouldn't stop because of some dissatisfied user. And I'm also sure that ML users don't make requests in order to berate and demoralize contributors.
So it would be great if users didn't feel the need to sugar-coat their heartfelt wishes, and contributors didn't feel the need to defend their progress in them, or lack of interest in them. I don't take any of this personally, and I don't expect anyone else to.
All that said, I would echo AnotherDave's first post above. Not as a complaint, but as a personal statement of hope for a tool I'm eager to use. "Pushing numbers" mirrors my comment about dual-ISO video versus RAW video. I personally hope that people will decide to downplay dual-ISO video for the sake of advancing RAW video faster, and shipping a field-ready version sooner. But if they can't, won't or don't, I blame no one. No one owes me anything.
Finally, I agree that typing stuff sucks. 99.9% of the people here are well-intentioned, even if not perfectly informed. We should remember that when we feel insulted or snarky. It's just a waste of time because we can bet the other guy is actually a good chap.