One idea that should be looked at is splitting the main repository pool into 2 or more sections.

Any plugins which have not been updated for 2 years should be in a separate search pool for those who want to leave them out of searches. That single action would simplify plugin maintenance for most of us.

This might be a little bit like having specialised search category that filters out plugins by last update if there is a field or some other item that could be flagged to do that.

All the plugins would stay on the repository but some would get more traffic than others.