Re: Non buddypress plugins on plugin directory.
Though I’m all for BuddyPress, IMO I think it’s cool that there’s a developer who took the time to create a social networking tool for single WP, even knowing that BuddyPress will be available for single WP with the coming merge. There’s room for the Mingle plugin in the large WP community base.
I’ve tested it on one of my single WP installs, it’s working great and theming was a no brainer 
It has its limitations (compared to BP) and not perfected at this time, but for those who just want the basic features, its the best SN for single WP users. As for using “BuddyPress” tag to promote the plugin, I say it’s all good marketing since it is ala-buddypress the easy way.
Having said that, we don’t know how long the Mingle developer will continue supporting the plugin. But then, same goes for other plugins in the WP repository, someone could also take up on developing the plugin after original developer drops it. Or, someone could create another plugin like Mingle and BuddyPress … GPL and all
