[Numpy-discussion] Monkeypatching vs nose plugin?

Howdy, In working on the ipython testing machinery, I looked at the numpy nosetester.py file and found that it works by monkeypatching nose itself. I'm curious as to why this approach was taken rather than constructing a plugin object. In general, monkeypatching should be done as a last-resort trick, because it tends to be brittle and can cause bizarre problems to users who after running numpy.test() find that their normal nose-using code starts doing funny things. Any thoughts/insights? Cheers, f