This will still give plug-in authors the option of going on their own. I assume canonical plug-ins could always be forked and adapted, and if the changes are useful/popular they will be brought back into the canonical "core" plug-in- much in the way that popular plug-ins now are brought into the Wordpress core once enough people ask for them or their utility becomes obvious (think automatic update).

I would be curious, though, to hear what @alexrabe, @Viper007Bond, or other actual plug-in developers think.

My vote was for "core". Every time I read "canonical" I think it's a bit confusing.