Exactly. I need to understand what value this particular software brings to the table compared to the "competition" before I will invest any serious time into looking at it.

> Probably, and they should come forward and be open about it.

No software developer is obligated to do anything for any of us. It's on US to figure things out and share them as we see fit. Nobody cares if you are willing to invest serious time looking into it or not. Asking a leading question and linking to something most of us have already seen is pointless. Defending it when a good argument was presented is also pointless. I hazard these discourses are linked to age.

Stop presuming that just because you're familiar with something that it's no longer worth bringing up. I've never used any of these tools and value the discussions about them that questions like the thread starter's allow.

Further, there are always new people looking to learn and grow. They shouldn't be looked down upon simply because others got there first.

What makes you think the question was a leading question rather than a genuine one? There isn't enough there to definitively determine the intent in any case, so it's up to whoever responds to decide which way of reading the question they will respond to, and that's an opportunity for the larger software community and for the developers of the projects in question to nurture thier communities. Just because it doesn't have value to you doesn't mean it doesn't have value to others.