So do I understand correctly that no consensus has been reached and that
the patch will eternally rot on the tracker?
In such situation I'd say that if the feature should be committed then
it should be committed the way the original patch author has implemeted
it. Because he is the main person interested in the feature. The main
opponent is Paul who happily lived without the feature all the time.
That said, I have not the feeling that many developers/users are
interested in it so it's questionable whether it should get in at all.
A little provocation is intended... ;-)