Well, I'd like to offer a caveat to that. While I don't think we ever need Satoshi to step forward in real life and identify himself, there is still the possibility that he or an inheritor will someday want to utilize the ~1 million coin fortune that he holds - perhaps for a philanthropic project or for investment in a worthwhile business startup, for example. As the Wright episode has shown, even the slightest rumor of a "Satoshi sighting" can move the market without proof - now imagine how the market might react if the coins really did start moving?
I have never said that he can't have market influence due to the amount of coins that he is holding. What I'm saying is, we don't need to know who he is nor do people need to be obsessed with the 'Satoshi quest' as they are now.
Again, Satoshi wouldn't need to reveal his real world identity. Just authenticate a message and let people know what (in general terms) what he plans to use the bitcoin for, and that he's not abandoning it or signaling that Bitcoin has failed.
He has already abandoned Bitcoin long ago and (apparently) moved onto other things. I don't understand why his opinion on whether Bitcoin has failed or not would stand ground. No one should have that much influence in a decentralized system.
Exactly. Gavin's commit access should not be restored. He represents a tangible security risk. The willingsness of Gavin and Matonis to sign a NDA alone disqualifies them from taking part in the Bitcoin Core project any further. One may specualte what other NDAs they may have signed...
While I do agree with the first part of the post, I do have to correct you on the second part. I have said that it is possible that they signed that NDA (or something similar), I never said that this actually happened (since we have no proof of this).