>> mray:

“[...] and I wonder what drives the fsf to dogfood this strange thing instead of using something else. [...]”

IIRC they've discussed this themselves, and I think part of the reasoning was that, even if awkward to use and old-looking, it had several functionalities they still couldn't replicate with other systems (yet). Plus it works without JS or any other fancy thing, so compatibility with, let's say "uncommon setups and workflows" is higher.

But don't take my word for it, it's just something I vaguely recall. I might be mixing things up.