Why is this? Especially with no commoner edit function. How many people have submitted before the post was ready? I’m not sure how many resources would be required to separate the 2 buttons in a one-time event; but I can imagine it would be a lot less than the resources occupied by all the extra submissions due to a pre-mature post…which would go on forever.
Partly, it’s simple economics. The corrections to erroneous posts are made by the Moderators, who aren’t paid. Changes in programming are made by the tech crew, who are.
And partly, of course, it’s: get used to being careful. You goof up once and you learn from your mistakes.
The only thing that drives me crazy is that the :wally smiley and the 
are right next to each other! I’m petrified I’m going to accidentally call someone I really like a putz and walk away and not notice.
I avoid that by never using smilies. Well, hardly ever.
If the software were changed now, 4000+ people would suddenly have to adapt.
Another way to avoid that is to memorize the codes for the smileys and type them in. 
I love the Straight Dope Smileys!
I am so tempted to list them all here but I’m afraid of getting scolded, so I’m refraining.
I, for one, thank you for it.
Aesiron: hater of emoticons. (except in moderation)
What would be the smiley for that?
Maybe an open circle to represent the symbolic emptiness of emoticons: O
Heh.
Thank you for the clarification, Dex.
I like them.
I disagree … I think the Moderators, above all, should refrain from their use.