rathole

   [from  the  English  idiom  "down  a rathole" for a waste of money or
   time] A technical subject that is known to be able to absorb infinite
   amounts  of  discussion  time  without  more  than  an  infinitesimal
   probability  of  arrival  at  a  conclusion  or  consensus. "That's a
   rathole"  (or  just  "Rathole!")  is  considered a pre-emptive bid to
   change  the  subject.  The difference between ratholes and {religious
   issues}  is  that  a  holy  war  cannot  be  pre-empted  in this way.
   Canonical examples are XML namespaces and open-source licensing.

[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {religious issues}]