I am aware that reviving such an old thread is bad practice. I do however estimate that the relevant discussion is already here, much better formulated than I would have done myself, and that I should bump all the right people. Please let me know if this is simply the wrong way to go about it.
Has any progress been achieved in this? Is there still interest in finding some unifying root-finding API? I want want to put in my personal preference for roots() as opposed to find_roots() - the last one is equivalent to a mouthful for my fingers.