I was thinking to ether keep these flattened files in normal LDraw format but using new meta/line types for adding normals etc. Or using a completely new (or existing 3d) format.
End user tools still need to understand basic LDraw (type 1, mpd format) to use the library but instead of having to recursively and process the raw library files they use the pre processed ones from the new library.
Any older software just keeps using the original files directly. Also new software can decide them self's if they (also) support the raw format (needed for unofficial files for example) or take the 'easy' way and only use the extended files.
If in the long run people (part authors) like creating the single file parts better or prefer a reduced recursive nature we could reassess things concerning the master library.
End user tools still need to understand basic LDraw (type 1, mpd format) to use the library but instead of having to recursively and process the raw library files they use the pre processed ones from the new library.
Any older software just keeps using the original files directly. Also new software can decide them self's if they (also) support the raw format (needed for unofficial files for example) or take the 'easy' way and only use the extended files.
If in the long run people (part authors) like creating the single file parts better or prefer a reduced recursive nature we could reassess things concerning the master library.