Would be good if we could make a backup of the database straight from the admin area, also like phpbb :)

The config tab would be for the plugins then, and then thats more work for the plugin developers which most will not bother to do.
Plus it's easier for the developer and user atm to just go into the code and hack that shiz up.

But i can see what your getting at but I don't think it will come anytime soon, and even when it does come you need to motivate the plugin developers to use it's api instead of just posting hacks instead which is much easier.