Hopefully you are right about all of this. I don't follow it closely, but when I periodically check in on nntp.perl.org I get the feeling they have no idea what to do about v7 anymore. Since they have to say _something_, currently they say they have no concrete plans but won't change defaults. We will see.

Feature bundles don't bother me, but if I read between the lines (possibly too much), comments they make seem like they are still looking for an opening to remove some of these features entirely. I hope I'm wrong.

(I remember the Ongoing Disaster talk, I personally thought it was fun)