Even a fricking "this is what it does" or "this is why our tool/distro/service is better than the thousands of alternatives" seems to be beyond most open source

Even a fricking "this is what it does" or "this is why our tool/distro/service is better than the thousands of alternatives" seems to be beyond most open source projects and startups. It doesn't help that the current trend is to just put up a flat landing page with exlcusively wishy-washy feel-good self-felating about their team, their mission. If the only thing I can learn about your product is that you are a group of hip young creative people who want to make my life easier in some unspecified way, I'm NOT going to sign up for a trial.