Hello Lars,
the plan sounds good ... and here are my 2 cents...
The integration stuff is pretty important, and of course is a major thing to do. Also, about notifications, we have the plan to add notifications to all the possible objects that still need on .LRN in the short term, since we should provide a lightweight communication with the entire system through simple emails / SMS. So basically, the 5.1 vision for me is the correct one. UI improvements are a must.
IMHO, .LRN v3.0 should come with SCORM / IMS compliant, plus new packages like evaluation / grade book (Galileo is doing), assessment (IMS QTI compliant in a first phase, e-lane will also work on this + Heilderberg), Enterprise Integration which is something achieved with IMS Enterprise integration, but on top of that should go webservices or the like (something Galileo will work on as we need it soon) ...
User-tracking-behavior, small object rating, and an improved searching tool is part of the road-map of e-lane as well. Also, is needed an easy way, more less automated to applying patches / upgrades, and I'm pretty sure that it'll come soon.
I don't intend to give the impression that we'll do everything, rather than that, we want to coordinate our efforts and limited human resources with all the community in order to enhance openacs / .LRN.
About the paradigm of being a non sexy technology, personally got rid of it and try do as most evangelism as I can, might be a good place to start with the technology communities, probably a good way will be presenting papers and keep all the community posted about that, there was one time where the community of ACS was growing by the enthusiasm... But in the end user / buyer side is about marketing, and that's another thing. The very first place to do marketing is in openacs, our toolkit (easy installation and you have covered the most of the things) and of course, the .LRN site (which BTW, has the potential to make the needs for openacs / .LRN consultants to grow exponentially), I'll stop here and keep the eye on the MK.
