So, I propose:
reduce install time
reduce image size
reduce compose time

is the order we should put them in

I very much agree with this. The official compose gets done just once, lowest priority (Note that most tested configurations actually decrease the compose time, or increase slightly, but nothing major). The image size is important, so that stuff fits on a flash drive. But the proposed changes differ in just a few percent increase or decrease. That is not a major change in any way. On the other hand, the install time differences *are* major - we can have 30-40% reduction in install time. You can argue that install gets done just once and is also not an important factor. That is true, for a standard user. But there are areas where hundreds of installation are performed each day, and such a big reduction really matters. Of course, my job, QA, is one of those areas. CI is another. Any third party vendor-related testing can be impacted in the same way. The more we steer towards automated testing and continuous integration, the more important the compose time and installation time will be. And because usually you do many installations from a single compose, the installation time is the more important one.