Seems to me that each roaster (machine) needs a basic profile, the one to use on a new coffee, and the one to tweak to get the right roast for a known coffee. So maybe the article should focus on how to find that basic profile, and how to tweak it. We can do this in general, "this is how you do it for all roasters" and people can share their results for specific roasters, particularly the off the shelf ones.

For instance:

My general advice is that the profile has
-- a drying phase to 300F bean temperature (BT),
-- a first ramp to the first crack at around 390 BT,
-- and a finishing ramp to the end of the roast.

A basic profile would tell people how long each of these phases should be for their roaster. I would advise people to set up their basic profile so it produces a really good light roast, pulled just after the first crack ends. The acid test is to get some green and roasted (for brewing) beans from Terroir (the best light roasters in the country) and see how your equally light roast stacks up.
-- It should have no grassy flavors (too short a drying phase), or dusty, leathery, or choking ones (too long a drying phase),
-- it should not taste bready or like cheerios (too long a first ramp), or have no toasty flavors at all (too short a first ramp),
-- it should not taste overly acidic (too short a finishing ramp), nor should it taste flat and caramelly (too long a finishing ramp)

I would advise people to keep the length of all three roast phases mostly the same for any degree of roast (light or dark), but to add a minute or two to the finishing ramp when going from brewing to espresso roasts, since you want the flavor balance to have more caramel and less acids.

Here's how to get some very basic profiling on a completely unmodified popcorn popper:

Drying phase: Run the roaster one minute, then turn it off for two minutes, then restart the roast. Increase or decrease the turnoff time to change your drying time.
First ramp: There is not much that can be done here
Finishing ramp: Use a lower weight of beans to lengthen the time, a higher weight to shorten the time.