I think part of the explanation might be the explosion of choice [1]. For better or for worse, the more choices there are, the better people expect them to be to stand out. If you make software that solves a critical problem nobody else's does, I doubt people will feel nearly as entitled about it as about a forum or a programming language or whatever.

[1] https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_on_the_paradox_of_c...