Perhaps I can help here. The root of all this, as I understand it, is an optional dependency. There is, of course, code that depends on the optional dependency. However, no one has mentioned any *source* code that is under an incompatible license, such as modified sources of an LGPL component.
This is the critical question. If this is AL source code that makes calls to an LGPL component, then it can live in an ordinary AL source repository and be distributed in an ordinary AL release. However, a user must be able to build the release, by default, without the LGPL binary dependency.Thus, 'optional'. If, on the other hand, some members of a PMC wish to build source code that is not under the AL, it cannot be at Apache and there must be a bright line that avoids any confusion. Such a project could be at Extras, but then the question arises about whether mailing list connections and other conveniences would create unacceptable confusion about the distinction between 'things the PMC does' and 'things some PMC members happen to do elsewhere.'
