The static function in global_navigation is marked as protected? Is there any good reason for this as the code executed is useful and I can't see a really good reason that it isn't available as a helper method.

I know that it is a simple sequence of code that is easily replicated but strikes me that this eventually leads to a multitude of implementations. Given that (activity) Modules can now report what features they support wouldn't reporting whether or not they can extend the navigation through the same mechanism (and how) be a more consistent approach?