Following the many comments on my post here:
http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2009/11/29/why-are-good-plugins-becoming-orphans/
A suggestion came up that I would like to share here:
1) A way to mark plugins as "unsupported" or "no longer under development."
Even though we are all developing under the GPL, and we are legally entitled to use and reuse code as we please, I would still feel funny about taking over a plugin from another developer without that person's consent. The last thing I would want is to "adopt" an apparently abandoned plugin, only to have the original developer reappear some months later and announce plans to continue developing it. It would really help if there was some way to mark plugins as "unsupported" or "no longer under development." I would be much more inclined to adopt a plugin that I know has truly been orphaned.
2) A count of the number of installed plugins
A count of the installed base would be great for making informed decisions about which orphaned plugins are worth fixing. That information would be harder to collect, although the number of downloads does give some indication.
