Re: Hints proposal

So let's cut to the bone: If someone thinks a proposal is a bad idea, and they're volunteering their time on an open-source project, why would they implement the proposal?

In all the heat and smoke, I believe there are two basic conclusions we all agree on.

1. Optimizer:
a) A perfect optimizer would be a wonderful thing
b) Optimization is a hard problem
c) Any problem that can be solve by improving the optimizer *should*
be solved by improving the optimizer.

2. Hints
a) On a aesthetic/theoretical level, hints suck. They're ugly and rude
b) On a practical level, introducing hints will cause short- and long-term problems
c) Hints would help DBAs solve urgent problems for which there is no other solution

The disagreements revolve around the degree to which 1 conflicts with 2.

1. Developers feel very strongly about 2(a) and 2(b).
2. DBAs "in the trenches" feel very strongly about 2(c).

So my question is: Is there any argument that can be made to persuade those of you who are volunteering your time on the optimizer to even consider a HINTS proposal? Has all this discussion changed your perspective on 2(c), and why it really matters to some of us? Are we just wasting our time, or is this a fruitful discussion?

Thanks,
Craig