With hijack advancing the developer API daily, I thought it might be a good time to bring this subject back up. We need standards set on the following:

1. Where program files are stored
2. Where data needed by these programs is stored
3. The bootup process, changing init, but not changing the behavior of the player
4. An easy way to install. With the FTP server in hijack, ethernet will probably be the fastest, with serial as a backup possibility. A standard installer for Windows and Unix would go a long way towards letting the small time developers roll something out without a huge install hassle.

The last time it was discussed is here where some possibilities were laid out.

Also relevant is this thread about progress on having an alternate root filesystem so that upgrades don't delete your stuff.