Anything that gains too much steam and mainstream attention is ripe for corporate takeover/infiltration. Federation should hopefully keep them at bay for a while.
You definitely have a point about the "thank you"-messages. I don't think I've ever sent a message like that to the author of any software, but I think it might be time to start, especially for software that is the product of (or spawned from) the hard work of a single person or a small group.
Sad news, 62 is way too early. I've been using Vim and the Vim modes/plugins of various IDEs (currently IntelliJ) for many years now, so I'm going to donate to ICCF in his memory.
Anything that gains too much steam and mainstream attention is ripe for corporate takeover/infiltration. Federation should hopefully keep them at bay for a while.