Can we cut some stuff out of comments.php templates?

I don’t know if this really is the right place for it — I’ve contemplated filing a ticket in trac or posting it in themes & templates, but in the end I think this is the best place.

My question revolves around two things in the comments.php file in themes. I think one part can be easily solved, the other part would require some changes in the core and counts as a “feature request”.

1. <p>There’s a bit of code in the template to check if the file (comments.php) was called directly, rather than from another file, and die if this is the case. I wonder why this is, as calling it directly would result in some HTML ending in a PHP error, just like all the other PHP files that make up a theme.</p>
   <p>I’m guessing this is some leftover from the old days, but as I see it, it can go. That would reduce template clutter, and confusion for new users.</p>
2. <p>The other bit of code, the part that checks for password-protectedness, should IMHO be handled in the core as well. IF the post is password-protected, THEN simply don’t call the comments template, or make sure that $comments is empty. At the very least it should be possible to cut those 9 lines down to one.</p>

It’s not earth-shattering, but to those that are new to WP theming, it might make things less daunting. Just my 2 cents. =]