One additional point ...
'Don, let me start with your more "cynical side" first. I think you would come down strongly on the other side of the same argument if we simply substituted "AOLServer" for "Sakai" and "Apache" for ".LRN." If AOLServer's plumbing is so good, how come it has fewer mods than Apache?'
No, I wouldn't, not at all. AOLserver's not meant to BE an Apache.
That was by design. Right or wrong, available resources have nothing to do with it. They're just ... different.