Yes, this is a good point. I had thought of this too and somehow convinced myself that the "head" case disappeared (since the non-"head" case would fail if "indirect" weren't initialized properly), but I'll admit that's a shaky argument.
This comment thread was refreshing to read because it was technically enlightening, devoid of malice, and each party conceding arguments while expanding and clarifying places where it broke down or wasn't clear.
Something we can all strive for professionally and while commenting on HN.
