I think it's an example of bad communication.
The impression I get from the gnome folks -- and I may very well be off by a mile -- is that their new focus is to create a free-software UI for the corporate market. Corporations *really don't like* end users mucking about with their interface beyond a certain level, and corporations really *do* like being able to have a single configuration that requires very little setup that is usable from the start and can be copied to x number of machines all at once.
So gnome is trying to do that, and that's where they're focusing their resources. They have x amount of resources to spend to reach that goal, and diverting some of those resources to develop the other stuff that people outside the corporation like would complicate matters needlessly. So instead of saying "right now we're trying to focus on these features until we reach this goal, and at that point we'll take a look around to see what we can do next" they say instead "sorry, but you're not our target market." Not a very diplomatic response, but honestly, how many diplomatic developers do *you* know? :)