The feature set is nice, it would be good if you can clean things up so we can accept the changes.
Chat's supplied as part of dotlrn, so we have some minimum requirements for code quality, though.
1. Upgrade scripts MUST be provided.
2. You can't break other packages.
3. You can NOT make a generalized service package like xotcl-core depend upon an application like chat. NEVER.
4. Problems like those pointed out by Gustaf should really be cleaned up. Remember, this is open source. People the world over look at your code! If it sucks, people will know.