Why should Bitcoin be the absolute, perfect cryptocurrency that does everything?
It doesn't have to be. But if you brought Linux distros as an example, then note one thing: each main package is usually taken from the same source, and only slightly tweaked here and there by every distro. And if you compare cryptocurrencies with distros, then you note that sidechains are needed, if you want to reflect the same situation.
Also, if you use Debian, it doesn't mean you cannot use Ubuntu on the same device. And note that you can have a hybrid system, where some packages are in a common repo, and used by both systems simultaneously, with the same source code, and binaries. If you have ELF executables and libraries, you can make it in a way, where for a lot of software, it will be cross-platform, when it comes to different distros.
And again: if you have any installation instructions, then they are often identical for a lot of packages. You have a Windows version, a Linux version, and maybe also others, like MacOS version, or Android/iOS version. But in general, if you have Linux version, then it works everywhere, if you can run ELF files. If you download Bitcoin Core, you don't have separate packages for Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and so on. You can have them, and many distros provide them, but if you grab it from official Bitcoin Core page, then there is one version for Linux, and it works in most distros.
Have you ever seen Linux distro wars/heated debates?
Of course I saw them. And in the same way, I saw such debates, when it comes to spaces versus tabs, or when it comes to programming languages, or text editors. But my opinion on that matter is quite simple: use whatever works, and it will be fine. If you provide a package, you just provide one Linux version, and you don't think, what distro is needed. You can write it in a portable way.
Also, addressing other topics: I prefer tabs, but spaces already won the battle. And we don't have Elastic Tabstops widely deployed, because they are somewhat incompatible with ASCII-art, and all console outputs assume fixed-width font.
When it comes to programming languages, then you can pick whatever you want, but good, old, C language, is what you can call "portable assembly", because it will probably work on every possible architecture (and it is one of the first things to be ported, if any new architecture is invented).
About text editors: use whatever you want, as long as your text is unformatted. If it is, then you can grep it. And also, sticking to ASCII or UTF-8 is the best choice. New lines can be chosen at will, because you have "\r\n" or "\n", and most editors can deal with that. And if you use Git, then it can automatically convert files between those two. I usually prefer "\n", but I can handle "\r\n" when needed.
But some long-standing alts (like XMR, LTC, DOGE) are here to stay, I think that's obvious.
Standardization is good. You already have Windows Subsystem for Linux, you have Wine, and if you want portability, then you have to end up with a browser, because it works on every device. I guess in the future, there will be more bridges between different coins. And if some proposals will be merged, then you will even have decentralized bridges between all major coins.