I'd argue that it worked exactly as expected. The bug was found, fixed, and patches released immediately. For most people that was just a package-manager update away.

If anybody imagined that openssl had no bugs, they've obviously been proven wrong several times already, and I'm sure they will be proven wrong again.

The point of a single library (or few libraries) is (at least) twofold. It's much less likely to have defects, and when those defects that remain are found, answering the "does this affect me" question is easier and prompts quick action.