I was reading a bit through the mailing list and it seemed that the GIMP development team had bit off a bit more than they could swallow at that time. This is what I've got from it:
* They rewrite the core of the software to allow a lot of new features.
* The developers could not agree on all critical details on how to proceed.
* Some developers got frustrated because things were not going their way or proceeding too slowly.
* The new model of how things work makes much of the old code obsolete.
* There are a lot of modules which need to be rewritten to use the new core.
* Before thinking about releasing the new GIMP >50% of the total work has to be done making transition hard.
* Due to its 'unique' interface a lot of people don't like the GIMP even if it would do everything they need.
* Designing and implementing a new interface is another pain point.
Considering that currently the GIMP is at a critical point in its development, a full-time developer could really be the pivotal element in making it succeed. I don't know much about this particular developer, though.
Sincerity of course. There's so much work to do on GIMP, especially with GEGL integration and non-destructive editing, and too few hands to work on it. It would actually deserve 5-10 full-time developers given the project size, but 1 for the moment is good enough.
If you ever tried slipping a few line of code for a side-project or a free/open source one, you know how hard it is to focus when you have such limited time and energy.
