[Al Skierkiewicz]

Paul,
You started the thread with a reference to rule #71, the terms of which are clear and with which you find fault. What is generally accepted is that year to year, software must be treated as if it were a part for the robot. The statement "Just as designs for hardware COMPONENTS may be reused from one year to the next, software algorithms and designs may be reused" indicates teams will "reuse" software. But just as all parts for this season's robot must be built during the build period, so shall software. It is not to put you or I on the same playing field but to put both of us on the same field as a rookie who has no code from last year from which to copy.
I don't think FIRST is a sad organization because of the rule book. The rule book is the means to the end of building a robot for competition. This is much more than a competition, we are building (or trying to build) the next generation of scientists, engineers and other professionals to make this world better. We have to get people back into the mode of realizing rules and following them, automatically. We know what happens when people don't follow rules. Lay, Skilling and others not only lined their own pockets they did so at our expense and the millions of people who depended on their retirement accounts to get them through their golden years. I know it is hard for a young person to imagine but many of those people are now well into their seventies and eighties and beyond their ability to work for themselves. They worked diligently when they could and sacrificed in order to not be a burden on anyone when they retired. Those people have watched as 40 years of their hard sork and sacrifice were flushed down the toilet by a couple of guys in Texas who didn't follow the rules.