That’s fantastic news! Now we’ll get to see (hopefully) an incoming tide of really cool child-themes in the repo.
And I just happen to have one that needs updating 
Cool. Congratulations @DJPaul and bp-default contributors 
@djpaul
I’ve been going over the changes in trunk (up to r3695… which I think is the most recent?), and I’ve noticed a few major changes such as:
- call to load the sidebar template has changed
- some new function_exists() calls in functions.php
I also spotted at least one nice new security check:
!bp_group_is_user_banned()
So, I’ve got 2 questions:
1 – Is it safe to begin updating themes according to that revision in anticipation of BP1.3 (with,of course, last minute changes when 1.3 is released)?
2 – Correct me if I’m wrong but, it looks like themes for 1.3 will NOT be compatible with BP1.2.7 (much like the diffs between 1.2.5 & 1.2.6). Will they be?
BTW, it’s nice to see your widgetized footer idea made it in there 
I am hoping to commit last major change this evening or tomorrow. Once done, I will be writing up a detailed list of changes on bpdevel.wordpress.com. I will let you know here, too 