[Jtsummers]

> separately, @dang, is it possible to just cut out the vamping about anything at the top level that isn't really about what is being written

@dang does nothing, email the mods if it's something you care about. Downvoting and flagging are the usual ways to deal with off-topic discussions, though the mods do occasionally create a "stub for off-topicness" and move comments under an auto-collapsed comment of theirs. Again, though, @dang won't reach him, email the mods.