You want a way to see replies to your messages. You had a good idea on listing the number of replies on the Newest Nodes page, but... well, really, why? Just go to the node. Or look on the section home page. There you go, number of replies.

Not only that, but the chatterbox provides a means of alerting you to replies to your own nodes. Those are the most important replies; other monks correcting your mistakes, offering assistance, suggestions, or asking for clarifications.

You don't want to use that, either.

I'll agree those boxes use lots of space. I turn off those I don't need, and now my screen is much nicer. The Chatterbox, because it's one of the main cores of the site. The Other Users box, because it's nice to know who else is here. The personal nodelet box, because I use it for bookmarks. I see no need for these changes you're demanding.

Who am I to say you're wrong? Someone who's been here longer. I like the system the way it is. Why? Because it works, for those willing to work within it. Because I'd rather have vroom working on things we all want - root-node editing capability, the new server, better reliability and performance. Even the PerlMonks T-shirts.

You have a really good knowledge of Perl. That's great. But here, in the Monastery, you don't know how the site works. And instead of learning how the current system works, you would rather we change it to meet your whims. You complained about your inability to edit replies... when the site docs explain how to do so. Oh, I forgot - you turned off that box.

Hundreds of Monks love this place AS IT IS. We like the Chatterbox. We like the comeraderie. We like making fun of mt2k. We like our dozens of boxes that we can view or not as we choose. We like the way replies are edited, we like the bad puns like "stumbit" and "SHITServer Error". We like Our Fearless Leader and his DeBugger Of Choice (pictured). If you don't, well, that's why browsers have a "Back" button.

- Ozymandias