@jessamyn it's been fascinating reading this thread and cataloguing the many different reasons people perceive as major factors or The Reason why WordPress won and Movable Type lost. Byrne Reese's post on that question https://web.archive.org/web/20190526031525/http://www.majordojo.com/2011/02/how-did-wordpress-win.php mentions an acquisition/hiring decision that backfired, which is a piece of lore that stuck with me.
@brainwane @jalefkowit Oh wow I remember a lot of those parts too, thanks for the link.