What about defined extensions points ?

[Alexandre Mazari <scaroo gmail com>]

Hi,

In its current incarnation, g-s extensions system give total freedom
to arbitrary code: extensions have access to the whole environment to
tweak with.
While great flexibility and freedom are given to extensions authors,
it might pose a problem of security and 'alienization' of the shell,
making it a lot different from the lovingly crafted original
experience.
Furthermore, it makes developing an involving task because no clear
and documented API is defined.

Instead, it might be better to have clear extension points defined and
hide unrelated data and logic.
That'd gives the shell a way to control and restrict extensions and
reduce the surface of exposed symbols while lowering the learning
curve for newcomers.

For example, API could be provided to
- add a top bar menu
- add amenu item to the user menu
- add a new overview tab
- add a search provider
- ...

What do you think ?