Sigh, as noted in the original description, this patch is a work in progress and is nowhere near ready for review or merging.  As such, obvious nitpicks about versioning out the OS are worthless because these hacks are nowhere near the final fixes.  This patch is just up as a first iteration for people to look at and comment on or try to fix the real problems.  I don't know how many times I have to say this before it sinks in.