the logic is simple

when i am a dev wanting to hax on a project

if the default branch is the latest of whatever actually compiles, that's what i want as a dev wanting to hax

if i am a lurker wanting to spy on the progress of projects, the default branch is what shows on the plain link to the repo on github or whatever, and the newest stuff can be easily seen there and one click to watch the commit history

making the main branch some kind of monument means i have to click twice or more in to get at what i want to see, and that is shitty

it also means when i clone it as a dev, i get the latest "release" version and that is also shitty as a dev