We never planned or dreamed of adding these features to the Java Programming Language. So why did we keep them open? I guess it was a misguided attempt to be open. But openess is not pretending we're listening, openess is being open about our decisions. Not everyone will agree on our decisions but at least they know where we stand.
This is one of the great things about open source: if you disagree with the developers, you can fork of your own branch. I think the biggest value of Java is being a "standard" platform, so I don't think that anyone should be allowed to distribute modified JDKs unrestricted. This is why I think we have found the perfect balance with the Peabody effort. This is not free software, but you can download all the sources and try out all your vacky ideas. With some restrictions, you can even share them with other developers.
But best of all, if you can fix your most (least) favorite bug, then you get a chance to get the fix back into the JDK. If you submit the right paperwork as decribed in the link above, we can now accept your changes and incorporate them into the JDK. I imagine that this could also happen with your most wanted features, although big features will have to go through the Java Community Process. Or we might say no, just as we did with const keywords and multiple return values. Saying no is the hardest part of being open.