About compatibility of 1.5 library with IDE 1.0: its true, but again, how would you change the specification to allow that? See that there is very small room for improvements on the old lib-1.0 format.
I think that what could go a long way is to ensure that very simple 1.5 libraries
still work on 1.0 because I don't see everyone immediately jumping on the 1.5 bandwagon.
By creating this capability, you could get a quicker adoption of the 1.5 library format by
library developers since they could now create and maintain a library that works on both
1.x and 1.5 without having to avoid the newer 1.5 format.
For example, if a 1.0 library could simply add a .properties file and
the common code didn't have to be in src then simple 1.5 libraries
could still work on 1.0 but 1.5 could get and use the additional information
from the .properties file.
OR as an alternative (and I mentioned this earlier as well),
the IDE/library manager should maintain its ".properties" stuff separately from what
may be provided by the library. So the IDE takes some information
from the library and uses it to install the library in the IDE.
Or another option for importing/installing the pre 1.5 library files would be the query the user
for the information and create the needed IDE ".properties" stuff during
the install process.
I think many things are possible and I'll be happy to participate in the process
of coming up with solutions.
I also think that there are several others that have responded in this thread
that have an interest in participating to come up with something better.
The key is coming up with a list of wants & needs for this type of capability.
And people need to be very clear at understanding the difference between
their true needs and their wants.
Once there is discussion and a exchange of these ideas, it becomes much
easier to decide on the how to proceed: Try to cover all the needs first,
then try to integrate as many of the wants as you can given the
timing and resources available.
--- bill