> I suspect because statistically programmers are in their editor, they're just a distraction away from playing with elisp.
I think that's one reason, but not the only one. But they all fall in the 'barrier of entry' theme.
You are literally two keystrokes away from being able to replace any running elisp code in your editor (C-x C-e). You have a default scratch buffer every time you start the editor. You don't have to create packages or do anything else to start coding. You can inspect everything, even ask which function is run when you type a character, which will take you right to the source code, which allows you to copy, modify, eval, and then paste it right into your .emacs when you are done.
After that, you just uploaded the file somewhere for other people to use, if you are so inclined. Historically, they would just plop the file right on their .emacs.d.
Now, you can go the extra mile and make a package. Which is comparatively easy as you already have the code written and it just needs a home.
One time, I created a few commands to query Jira (grab issues assigned to me and stuff like that). It took me more time reading Atlassian's spec than it took to code the whole thing.
I've also reproduced the entire ending of Portal (the game) in Emacs, complete with synchronized lyrics, the ascii art and the color scheme (before color-themes was a thing). That was pretty easy to do.
Compare with other editors, even some of the 'cooler' ones (like VS Code). It is not obvious what to do if you want to change something, or where it even is. The config file is not programmable. You need to figure out how to create a package first, and only then start writing code. And that's VSCode. Some don't even allow you that much flexibility, other than maybe invoking shell commands.
And don't get me started on "IDEs" like Eclipse. Last time I extended it, I required two running copies of the environment and a full blown 'project' in order to add a lowly menu entry.
Historically, they would just plop the file right on their .emacs.d
With Emacs I'm more likely to try and extend some part of the editor than I am with Vim. A significant percentage of Vim users make heavy use of plugins; and I feel that "don't do it myself" lends to fewer plugins of higher quality.
