Man, y'all are gonna be so mad when you find out some people work on OSS projects for fun or ideological reasons.
Again, a sentiment that needs repeating far too often here, not everything is about, or for, you.
Not everyone here is a joyless sack of shit yet.
If "fun" and "idological reasons" are the reason there is a community around the project, then that is in fact the answer to the question, if a little vague.
For people still not understanding, it would be nice to have an explanation of what people find fun about it, especially as a user and not a developer, and what ideological reason exactly are driving it.
I find the desire to work on a 30 year old operating system that still lacks USB support much more confusing.
I don't use Hurd, but I do get it. I feel it's quite simple.
Just because it isn't there yet doesn't mean one wouldn't want to hack on it from time to time
Valuing my time doesn't make me a capitalist.