control_panel_home_page_left_option is useless?

I’ve read some posts on hacking around in the database to get control_panel_home_page_left_option to work as a hook… it can’t really be this useless, right??? I want to add a custom panel into the CP home for exporting some calendar stuff, easy as pie to just add directly into cp.home.php, but using an extension would save me some headaches with updates. so why does control_panel_home_page_left_option suck at putting in options in the left pane of the control panel home like it seems to indicate?

Moved to Extensions: Technical Assistance by Moderator