Perhaps the reaction has something to do with a product for which the USP is reliability and stability changing the terms on which the product is available very suddenly and without warning twice in the last few years?

The clones did contribute mind share to RHEL. That will now be lost. We don't know what the consequences of that will be.

PS: I think people should support Debian. A non-profit project with clear charitable status in many jurisdictions and a fully public development process. No sudden shifts if you use stable in production (or even oldstable).