In the last few month and maybe even years, Ubuntu and Canonical often were criticised for developing software and desktop components without talking to other groups in the free software community. I don't want to comment on this topic, but I see problems arising with creating a "proprietary" solution for displaying indicators and progressbars with a launcher like Unity.

In the world of free and open Desktop Environments we often try to standardize parts and libraries or write specifications to increase collaboration between different desktops. We have the instrument of http://freedesktop.org and a lot of specifications are getting implemented by the major Desktop Environments.

In this context, proposing a standard for those indicators would be a great step towards better interoperability between desktops.

These indicators represent a great feature on the Linux Desktop and I'm sure that other projects like AWN, Docky, etc. would pick them up.

With the great market share of Ubuntu, Canonical is in a position to propose it as a standard and encourage projects to implement it.

Thank you in advance, Sebastian Billaudelle