Because FOSS is by programmers, for programmers. Programmers like programming. Programmers will consider a UI that feels like doing programming work to be a go

Because FOSS is by programmers, for programmers. Programmers like programming. Programmers will consider a UI that feels like doing programming work to be a good UI. Non programmers want a premade spp and process for doing whatever the software says it does, including all variations they will encounter. Programmers want an open ended kit to build their own solution, and continually adapt it to fit their needs with nothing extra. They don't want software, they want a special purpose programming environment. They like power and simplicity more than convenience. And it seems like they commonly think on multiple levels of abstraction at the same time. If the internals of something are complicated, it seems to bother them the way a very bad mess in a closet would bother someone. I would imagine they are actively aware of the technology behind the things they use. They are probably not just thinking "Oh, click the button, this happens", they might have 4 different possibilities of how it might work in their head, and that part of their brain doesn't seem to have a sleep mode. Maybe it's distracting to them to use something that doesn't transparently expose what it actually does behind the scenes, like an unsolved puzzle with a picture they don't think they'd like the look of if they did solve it. Plus, programmers like to code. So a lot of what they do is aimed at helping them make... more code. The requirements are different than tools for noncode goals. Programmers also don't trust technology. The more UI conveniences, the more it's probably hiding in some dependency. Many programmers would gladly spend hours maintaining something to avoid Google knowing their location. Programmer psychology makes no sense if you haven't actually worked with them. You think "Oh, like in the movies, they've got a gadget for everything, they'll reprogram a ship's computer in 5 minutes and their curtains probably open themselves". But really it's more like "They swear at machines a lot, wish they could live in an offgrid cabin or at least like the idea in theory, and they would rather have a lathe from 1937 than a smarthome hub, but they'll also spend 60 hours learning how interrupts work in the Linux kernel for fun". Note: I'm specifically talking about most other programmers, not myself, I can't stand most of those UNIXy modular suites you have to fuss with to use.