One thing that's interesting for end users is full control over the UI. In principle, and in practice with Usenet, reader software can be completely distinct fr

One thing that's interesting for end users is full control over the UI. In principle, and in practice with Usenet, reader software can be completely distinct from server software, and everyone can use their own reader set up their own way, and not have to dumbly accept what the server's owners thought was the One Proper UI for their service. Another, deeper concept is that one group of yahoos can't unilaterally change the rules, because new software has to be compatible with old software. For example, imagine someone wanted to make email which deleted itself after a sender-specified period of time. They'd design the protocol and implement their server and client and then... nobody would care, because there are many email servers and clients, and nobody is compelled to use theirs. The people who really want that functionality would use it, and nobody else would be bothered.