They weren't done in secret, but many of them were just commits with no discussion on the list.
As long as the change hasn't been released, it's up for discussion.
Do you seriously expect people to review the commit stream for potentially harmful changes/addition ?
Can you name a controversial ASDF feature that was not discussed on the list before release?
What exactly do you wish had been debated before that wasn't?
And yes, at some point, I expect people to start a discussion if something bugs them, instead of waiting for the maintainer to start the discussion.
NB1: I'm not counting unannounced bug fixes and refactorings of internals.
NB2: I'm not counting UIOP either, that I've indeed developed without much discussion, except for my attempting some namespace landgrabs and retreating at the backlash. But that I haven't seen anyone else try to discuss it much, apart from reporting a few bugs (for which I'm most grateful).
—♯ƒ • François-René ÐVB Rideau •Reflection&Cybernethics• http://fare.tunes.org Nobody seems more obsessed by diet than our antimaterialist, otherworldly, New Age, spiritual types. But if the material world is merely illusion, an honest guru should be as content with Budweiser and bratwurst as with raw carrot juice, tofu, and seaweed slime. — Edward Abbey