[RFC] - Mechanizer and hacks - Maintenance mode

Request for comments

Need

Setting mechanizer in Maintenance Mode will automatically block any new code for additional functions to be added to it or new console hacks to be documented as workflows.

Approach

The change itself comes as an agreement in Support Leadership to favor product solutions vs in-house hacks.

Benefit

Mechanizer is close to being 2 years old, and it was initially created as a temporary solution and it has served its purpose well, however the nature of how it works is a hack and this makes it fragile and a small change in cDot can make it unusable at any time. Additionally, the console functions we use, sometimes bring other problems in the short or middle term, like data discrepancies or unexpected behaviors such as accounts being downgraded to free.

Setting it to maintenance mode will change how we react to unsupported features and increase our focus on creating and following up with feature requests and bugs, so we can get the solution/tool we need within the product itself.

Competition / Alternatives

By continuing creating hacks for those small problems, we will decrease their visibility and that could lead to a situation where we don't see the issues fixed in the product and we need to continue creating hacks and hacks on top of those.