I think that the reason we don't see decreases in bloat is because developers generally don't want to remove features once a program has been released. Instead

I think that the reason we don't see decreases in bloat is because developers generally don't want to remove features once a program has been released. Instead, they strip things down and re-release it as a new, leaner product. Then they're free to break compatibility and features without hindrance. Mozilla -> Firefox being one example.