I'm glad that you feel this way, but a lot of people don't feel this way. While the work is worth something, and always appreciated there are some polices that are kind of ridiculous. For example: You have some form of hardware issue, a factory defect, the vib motor stops working etc... post paying the 25 buck fee... After you get the device replaced, You you have to pay again, same fee.
Whilst the work is appreciated, and your opinion is noted, please don't dictate the feelings people have about paying for what was once free. This is the first time, a software modification such as S-Off / Bootloader unlocking has become real.
Now I know you want to bring up the bounty threads, those are people who are trying to motivate the devs to unlock. People who have spare cash. Some people don't really have a spare 25 bucks. While that number may not seem like a lot to you, it's a lot for a college student, I know no one is forcing anything on any of us but again, we must come back to my point, it was free before, now it's paid. It stings a little. No one is being ungrateful, we're just confused. When you get used to something you like keeping it. I.E. free mods, and the benefits of Unlocked bootloaders (Yay CM)
This is not an attack against the sunshine team. They have and will continue to do good work, which I appreciate.