Ok, so I haven't read any of this thread, only the blog post.
These are good changes because starsector is about having a fleet of a bunch of ships, not just one ship (except as an outlier playstyle or at the very beginning of the game.
The boarding reforms address most of my long held problems with the boarding mechanic in the game because the game's focus, as I stated, is on the fleet, not the ship. So I don't anticipate personally whining endlessly about this anymore.
The D mod thing also incorporates what i think is a good approximation of the gradual decay and wear and tear on ships; it's something I am glad to see; it will encourage me to try new ships out as the old decay.
Then finally the "restore everything to as good as new" option is for all the "bauble collector" type players who don't really understand what the game is about, but it will make them happy and reduce a lot of forum chatter. You do see people like this in yachting, who will spend ridiculous amounts to repair some boat they would be better off replacing entirely.
So it's all good.
My one suggestion/reservation: The distribution of the various skills in the 4 aptitudes is thematically confusing. Like, the crew saving skill is in, industry, rather than leadership where it would be expected. And yet, for some reason the ship saving thing, called "Fleet logistics skill" is over there in leadership. (Also work a bit more on the explanation). That one seems like it could be in technology.
It is all a bit confusing. What I mean is; don't be afraid to totally rearrange or eliminate the aptitude categories for skills. Possibly you'll rebrand these in a way that makes sense; right now on paper it just seems a bit disorientating.