What's our metric here? If the Egyptians let the military command council sit in place, then Mubarak's departure was merely cosmetic. but if the Tunisians shake out the old CDR, it's too much too fast.

What's the optimal turnover rate determinant of revolution?

The metric is that Lounsbury in principle supports democracy, but is always über worried about the results when people take the matters in their own hands, due to uncertainty, etc. as is typical of an investor.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/a-self-taught-democracy-emerges-from-tunisias-classrooms/article1924367/

Here's the money quote:
"But on the main streets of thousands of towns, people are simply taking matters into their own hands. They often don’t quite know how an elected town hall works, but they sure know how authoritarianism works, and they want to avoid its return at all costs."

The Metric is knowing some facts about the participants, and that the Tunisia change-over from the get go included real opposition, and featured a rather more genuine change the Egyptian one. In short, I don't agree with your equivalency at all.

I am also worried that chaos in operational governance will end up (i) excacerating the economic problems that will (ii) drive people towards more radical, less democratic actors speaking with populist forked tongues and (iii) will undermine the preparations for actual proper elections.

Non-elected (or 'elected' in irregular 'show of hands') "popular groups" semi-randomly cohering to run towns, etc is not democracy nor durable change in Tunisia.