Last modified: 2011-03-13 18:05:14 UTC
If user x saved both versions n and n+1 of a page, and if no other users have viewed version n, then the history page that user x sees should have a delete link next to version n. This feature would enable clutter reduction, saving user brainpower and saving disk space, and it would enable embarrassment reduction.
There's basically no such thing as an 'unviewed' revision; it will have been shipped out to bots, mirrors, backups, etc already even in the unlikely case that no human looked at it yet.
OK, count those events you mention as views by another user, or ignore them with an option variable. Wikipedia and some other mega-installations are of course the most important installations of MediaWiki, but the other 97.3% of installations have no mirroring or replication. Bots are a nonissue because who cares if a bot picks up a version that goes stale before someone gets to it via a search engine. Also, I would like to strengthen this request: a view via the history page should not count.