Popular crates could be "symlinked" into a global verified namespace, problem solved? I can't see any downsides other than some extra administration perhaps.

Yes, you buried all of the very difficult parts of your suggestion in "extra administration." Who decides what's popular? Who decides when it isn't popular any more? Who decides who gets which name in the global namespace?

I think I'm just going to refrain from talking about namespaces now. I tried to be super vague and just point out one thing that wasn't solved by namespaces (typo-squatting), but I've somehow gotten sucked into this discussion.

No more. I'm done. Sorry, it isn't directed at you. Just tired of the discussion around namespaces and the neglect to account for the "admin" parts of it.