<small_rant>But: this happens all the time in open source communities, even
mature ones. Someone volunteers to perform some complex task and
hand-waves-away some requirement they don't personally feel is important
under the "too hard" or "I don't have time for that, I'm doing this" umbrella.

Someone else comes along and says "wait, what happened to XXX?" at which
point others join in to emphasize the importance of XXX. At this point, it's
more clear whether or not XXX is actually important. But during this time:
XXX is broken and many people on both sides are unhappy.

GOLDEN RULE: That's why even in open source, the "golden rule of OPS" is
still important: PLEASE DO NOT BREAK SHIT. Even if you are fixing other more
important functionality and don't think XXX is important. Or if XXX and the
thing you want to do cannot co-exist, then make sure you get extensive
buy-in from a large percentage of folks before you consider removing XXX. If
for no other reason, then you will most certainly draw unwanted attention to
yourself (which is especially frustrating in the context of "trying to do
good things").
</small_rant>

Anyway, I've seen this so many times I don't even get angry anymore. Because
I know everyone involved has nothing but the best intentions. In this case,
I'd like to see the download count functionality restored. (I spent a full
year building a website whose almost-sole-functionality relies on download
counts existing and working properly.) So, please call me when they are
back.:-) And if I can help in anyway to make that happen, please let me know.