I know, that’s the exact same link I’ve provided in the first answer to this topic.
I especially stated in my most recent answer that it preexisted and was just moved to JSON, which was basically a quote from the very pull request you (and I) have linked.
Here’s the line it has replaced:
To perform a full butchery on a corpse this big, you need a table nearby or something else with a flat surface. A leather tarp spread out on the ground could suffice.
I (and most above my last post) are talking about butchering for meat. Not dissection. While I still agree (and even stated so earlier) that it should be possible to butcher a corpse without a surface but with other drawbacks, I - as written by my last post - also get the impression that most here think that this change happend recently and oppose this “new change”.
Dissection, however, might be new to require a surface, but that’s already discussed in an other topic and is not what most of this discussion seems about (as you don’t get meat from dissection).
That’s the part I’ve also adressed with…:
…as it only checked for a table, but not the size of the carcass (and if it can fit).
But anything bigger than (or equal to) creature_size::medium always* required a table to be butchered and was never* able to be butchered on the ground for a full butchery.
*: Well, since the change in the butchering system a few… months(?) back.