Al,
I think this is exactly what a lot of us are thinking. In a very constructive sense.
In fact, an example of this is the discussions we had in the TAB meeting last week about moving the parts of the dotlrn package that are generally applicable into acs-subsite, with the future goal of replacing the dotlrn package with acs-subsite.
This would, of course, not include the things that are specific to dotLRN, such as the terms, classes, courses, departments, etc., which currently live in the dotlrn. They would stay there, but dotlrn would be a package mounted within a subsite, like any other package.
The overall goal is to have as much synergy and shared code between different OpenACS applications as possible, which will increase the value for everybody.
Another related vision that I have is that the OpenACS installer would offer you the choice of a number of predefined configuration options, for example: dotLRN, dotWRK, public web site with communities, etc. Then the installer would download, install and configure things for you, and you'd be redirected to a control panel where you can upload your logo, customize the design, change settings, and other similar customizations.
/Lars
