Why? Because in the time HURD has sat around trying to figure out whose code to use and call HURD, other people have actually written useful kernels. Minix for example.
Yeah, okay, that was just nitpicking. But they're not doing that anymore, so why bother complaining about it anymore? Sure, it's not up to snuff yet, but perhaps it will be decently soon. Development on HURD has really surged in the past year or two, I'd like to say.
Minix wasn't an attempt at a production kernel in 1987. Minix 1 and Minix 2 were purely for teaching. Minix 3 was a completely new project, and wasn't started until 2005.
>but perhaps it will be decently soon
The history of the project and its current state suggest that is unlikely.
>Development on HURD has really surged in the past year or two, I'd like to say.
You might very well like to say that, but that doesn't mean it is true. There are no competent systems programmers working for/with GNU, it is highly unlikely that the random assortment of people chosen for their politics rather than their skillset will be able to turn the longest festering mess of code ever into a production ready kernel.
It took them 7 years to even name the kernel that hadn't been written yet. I feel like that says something.
And then when an actual GNU-licensed kernel came along, they ignored it and kept plugging away on vapour.