Earl, I said specifically that I use and need archive module for what it provides currently. If this sound like I need a generic solution, then I might have used improper wording.
I am looking into updating that module. Weblabor.hu got az ISSN number partly because of having a date based browsing interface (which is the calendar and the archive module providing it). So we are in need of the functionality obviously.
Maybe I should have been more clear that we got an ISSN number partly because of using the archive module. We intend to use a module that provides that functionality. We are definitely not fond of overkill. I also said I hopefully going to work on the enhanced archive module which many people would like to see in core. In fact I have just set up a drupal HEAD to try and update the module now.
By the same token, people need to understand that 20 different versions of relatively narrow application modules *also* aren't good solutions either, and an archive module with no ability to exclude irrelevant content from the archive one instance of the too narrow solution.
I have seen a great demand for the enhanced archive.module by codemonkeyx to get into core. Although I am fine with the archive module in core currently, it does not seem so that it has any future, so I figured I better put time into *some* archive functionality for core, so that this stuff is kept. Whether this is a relatively narrow application module I don't know, it will be decided by the community. Maybe my efforts will go unused. Maybe someone will use the enhanced archive module even if cck+views+event provides a more generic all-covering solution, as you suggested. Gabor