This analysis is spot on. There is nothing wrong with what Docker or CoreOS are doing. As the OP pointed out, stuff like this happens all the time in computing.

What makes it awkward is that you can't say this stuff and hope to convince the critically important group of people for open source software/companies: user communities.

Users care a lot about their software and community around it growing and improving, but they won't be convinced by the needs of venture-backed, growth-oriented corporate strategy. (I am not saying this is good or bad but stating the fact).