Randy, I don't think you misunderstood at all.
You know HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, kills its host by constant mutation. Our amazing immune systems kill most of it over and over again, but a little bit that is slightly different remains to grow up again. API changes are like giving HIV to your Open Source project. Amazing, enthusiastic programmers do their best to keep up, but eventually succumb to these tiny changes.
But I'm also reminded of how, when I was a kid, I would find a typewriter or other complex mechanical device. Not having the tools or patience to take it apart, I'd just smash it on the ground and then collect the parts that fell off. Cool!
