You're misunderstanding what I was saying. You gave the example of VLC being a superior open source video player, compared to other video players. I pointed out that VLC has been in development for a lot longer, so has had a lot of time to become as loved as it is. It wasn't embraced in the earlier years of its existence the same way it is today.
Once Darktable has been in development for longer, then it can be compared the same way, not to VLC, but to other photo management software.
One big problem with our voting system. If I do like the person running for a certain party locally, that means I'm effectively voting for the same party at the federal level. What if I think the federal leader is not the best choice?