Although 3rd-party developers of products & services are important for a monolithic platform like WordPress, it is easy (default) for them to get the wrong idea about their place & role in the 'ecosystem'.

We often see this cohort labelled "independent" developers, but actually they are really highly "dependent". They can't call the shots, because for one thing, each of them may opt for a different call. Hangers-on must read & interpret the monolith - not the other way around.

Developers who complain that WordPress is walking on their business-model, need to review their model (ie, stay out from under the elephant). The GPL-question, for instance, is like Democracy in that neither are without drawbacks; both minimize adversities more than they maximize ideals.

A new generation of computerists capable of playing the so-called independent developer role becomes functional at the rate of several times per decade. But they ripen continuously, all the time. There is always replacement-talent at hand.