In some respect the use of the libraries reflect the type of work the user does. Hobbyists, hams, reaserchers and experimenters need to get boards up quickly and they will probably make a few examples and move on. They tend to be mode A users.
People who design boards in industry tend to be working with a much more restricted range of boards and list of components. Few companies develop microwave repeaters one day and industrial ovens the next, you just keep producing variations on a theme or new enhanced versions of the old stuff. Mode B makes sense because your designs, while restricted in scope, will be highly optimised. That is way I feel strongle that a solution should support both modes. Libraries which are carefully and strictly maintained, and where components do not change except to correct errors or add detail (even the latter could be risky if components are not cached) suit Mode A users. But the technique should also support individual users just posting thier components into personal libraies which can captured as a one-off and reused. As for commercial companies, more than making it a selling issue thay seem to make it a licensing issue. By making component libraries on-line than users are continually linking to it. It is easy to get your hands on a cracked copy of Orcad or whatever, but as soon as you link to the online libraries they know about it. They do a similar technique with the backend programs they supply free to PCB houses. I feel that libraries are very important, but the most important thing is that you can find a component drawn the way you like it rather than rigidly standardised designs, but then I am strictly a Mode B user! Many potential users of KiCAD fall into the Mode A category. Both needs must be met. I am doing my first design with KiCAD and I have spent far more time building up my personal library than I will spend laying out the board, but as my designs use mostly the same components, this is a one off issue for me. But like I said, a multi project CVS server like sourceforge could cope with such requirements. A project for each library and each library could have it's own style. Any user could open thier personal library project for just sharing thier components in an ad hoc fashion, or users could make joint efforts on standard libraries. As for the stuff about actually using source forge, linked browsers, etc etc, perhaps I was exagerating! At the end of the day compnents are small by modern bandwith standards, I don't suppose it would be difficult for KiCAD to have it's own server.
