"You need HTC’s software for the drivers – 4G, camera."
Yes, but they have open-sourced these changes (as required by law), and CM6 has incorporated most of them. As I say, I am quite happy with CM6.

"Plus, they made the whole hardware, and pretty damn well"
I could not agree more. My gripe is with their bad SW, nothing more.

"... you can use another launcher instead of Sense if that’s what bothers you."
No. You are mistaken. Sense goes beyond just the launcher. True, I can replace the launcher, but how do I get the default contacts app? That is not possible thanks to HTCs perceived need to "differentiate".

"... look at Motorola – they have vanilla Android on the Droid, and HTC still beat them."
True. The Droid (now, sadly, at end-of-life), is running a more stock version of Android. Verizon, however, is notorious for maintaining strict control over the SW that runs on their network (and that, I believe, is the reason for the Droid update delays). Here's a good experiment: When (if HA!) FroYo is available for the original Droid, let's see how well the WiFi tethering works. Something tells me Verizon is going to have something to say about that feature. In CM6, it works perfectly. No add-ons to my plan.

I do this to educate. People need to realize that the combination of HW manufacturer fear of commoditization combined with the same in the wireless carrier business is bad for all of us consumers.

And if it's the presence of Sense altogether, which increases the integration time that is the problem, then look at Motorola - they have vanilla Android on the Droid, and HTC still beat them.

Thanks, but no thanks.