jwlato:
Great points: I've added them to this wiki page of for and against points:
http://haskell.org/haskellwiki/Libraries/WhenToRewriteOrRename
Please add points as you see fit, and maybe we can come up with a mitigation/change plan.
Thanks very much; that's a useful page. It highlights some points I hadn't considered, such as when the original author is no longer involved with substantial changes to the code.
Hopefully a productive discussion will follow. I don't think a one-size-fits-all approach is appropriate, but it would be nice if the community could come to some common recommendations on this topic.
Also, to everyone working on fgl: I certainly don't mean to single out your work as an example, however I think your contributions to this discussion are very helpful as it's a current issue for you.
Yes, my intent here is to produce a set of guidelines for maintainers of important packages, that ensures we balance stability with innovation. We have a great document for what to consider when adding packages to the HP, for example: http://trac.haskell.org/haskell-platform/wiki/AddingPackages But nothing yet for maintainers who want to keep a package moving along.