Is now an opportunity to minify the core by splitting out some parts and make them into plugins preinstalled with the standard distro?
I can think of a few “semi bells and whistles” but a prime example would be the drawing tool. If TW had not already had one, and it was proposed as a feature today, I’d guess it would be added as a plugin (right?)
Some features are of a nature that they help you accomplish or create something at a specific occasion but, after that, they’re no longer needed. If such features have a significiant enough footprint, maybe a guiding idea for the core is to feature them as plugins?
An appealing aspect with plugins (perhaps especially, concrete items like “the drawing tool”) is that it invites for experimenting with - and developing - alternatives. Speaketh a plugin maker; It is psychologically easier to create alternative plugins than it is to create things that mess with the core and overwrite stuff. It is also practically easier to investigate something that is properly split out, e.g to see how it interfaces with the core.
Thoughts?