To Patch or Custom: How to decide when to patch a contrib module or go custom
To use a contrib (community) module, patch a contrib module or write a custom module, that is the question.
With over 25,000 community contributed modules available for download it is rare to find one that does not offer the functionality you are looking for. However, when you cannot find a module that fits your needs you are then faced with a choice. Do you patch an existing contrib module? Or write a custom one?
To figure out the answer to the answer you just need to remember to R.E.A.D.