There's a name for this: Cargo Cult - copying behaviour without understanding why it exists in the first place. It's a part of human nature, even apes do it (they copy your very moves if they like you). Since we still do it, I suspect it has benefitted us during our previous evolution, and perhaps it still makes sense sometimes.
The point is, I'm not trying to build a brand, make money off this, or prove anything whatsoever. It was really just an experiment... to see how quickly I could do it and to see how people would react (and to make some good open source software).
Notice the name, "obtuse".. But I am glad I got this response, it's been both entertaining and enlightening!
As mentioned in another comment, I really dig what you did. You put it on GH so everybody can build customizations upon it. That's how new things are born. Perhaps it will become a barebone blog template just because it received this whole attention. If Dustin's elite writer concept is good, it will succeed no matter what. Ideas are everywhere, execution is everything.
Imitating something that already exists is nowhere near as difficult as creating something truly unique. To create some that's never existed before requires different skills. If know the exact storyboard, functionality, and design should work, then you don't even have to stop and think about anything while implementing it. You don't even need any trial error because someone else did that work already.
Carbon copying for vanity just doesn't my respect.