>>69376137
The reason why GNU software is "bloated" (at least according to code autists) is because it deals with POSIX compliance and alternatives where POSIX demands absurd behaviour. This is why you have a gazillion different defines that modifies behaviour. Suckless eliminates this by saying that everything about current UNIX-likes sucks to begin with, so you should even try to be POSIX compliant. Just look at Plan9, the OS everyone claims is the perfect modern UNIX. It builds on the original UNIX philosophy from the 1960s and throws POSIX out of the window. They cling to archaic semantics such as "everything should be a file" and "programs should only do one thing". In reality however, POSIX is a standard you need to conform to. This should be evident in the adoption of Plan9 compared to the adoption of various BSDs and even Linux and macOS. There's simply no contest.
tl;dr Suckless are a bunch of angry trolls that think modern NIXes suck and that pre System III UNIX is how all OSes should be like.