If the messaging menu, and other indicator features are to be supported by upstream, I believe we need to reduce the barrier of adoption. If gnome-shell, kde, xfce, and every other random window-manager/desktop-environment (which almost universally support the notification spec) could have all the same indicators and features that the ubuntu offers, without having to adopt/implement a new applet/protocol, we'll have a much better chance of getting the community at large on board.
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