[OAM-talk] Simple sift and stitch process?

[John Robert Peterson]

A number of times now the question has come up, and a some people have
partially answered it (including myself), but if the full answer has
come up, I have missed it:

If someone wants to take a bunch of images that are mostly rectified
and well behaved, sift them, and stich them together, what's the best
technique?

Hugin can do this awesomely, but as far as I know, insists on
surface-of-sphere comprehension (which is ironic given how spherical
the earth is, but that's not really the point). Is there a way to do
this flat, without jumping through too many hoops?

If noone has the complete answer, what's the closest we do have?

Thanks,
JR