I hope it would not be a stretch that popularity is very clearly a matter of opinion:
And the original question wording that was opinion based (and I hope we agree on that):
Essentially none of these elements are something that the end user directly has to deal with. So... So… off topic (plain and simple). Oh and "haveasking “have people/groups maintaining Windows XP "black edition"black editions issued statements about this choice?"” Learning material recommendation maybe. I didn't even think about that yet until writing this answer. And in any case, that'sthat’s not something an end user deals with directly, its almost like asking "why didn't MS“Why didn’t Microsoft release windows 9"Windows 9?” or "Why“Why isn't there an ultimate edition in windowsWindows 10?"”
I believe there'sthere’s an analogy to marijuana made here. I don'tdon’t know anything about drugs so I apologiseapologize for the ridiculously made up names, and non existent strains of weed mentioned here.
Lets rephrase that to fit the analogy:
And well, if we had a "Marijuana“Marijuana.stackexchange"stackexchange” and by some wierdweird coincidence, I was a mod there... I'dmoderator there… I’d close it as being opinion based, since its a matter of choices made by customers and freelance herbal packaging groups!
Now, lets talk about legality. By its nature, something like xp blackWindows XP Black or various distributions like that are infringements of copyright. The act of creating such a distribution for personal use from your own copy may not be, but the moment you put a iso online, it is. Essentially, any question about such distributions involve piracy, and in many cases such a question, even ifeven—if it were otherwise on topic wouldtopic—would be closed - this. This is also the underpinning of our policy on hackintoshHackintosh questions (and I'veI’ve answered the rare TOS respecting hackintoshHackintosh question!).
IANALI am not a lawyer but to me, asme—as a mod thismoderator—this part of the TOSStack Exchange TOS is what'swhat’s in play here:
"Subscriber represents, warrants and agrees that it will not contribute any Subscriber Content that (a) infringes, violates or otherwise interferes with any copyright or trademark of another party"
Subscriber represents, warrants and agrees that it will not contribute any Subscriber Content that (a) infringes, violates or otherwise interferes with any copyright or trademark of another party…
And a question on XP black essentially interferes with MS'sMicrosoft’s copyright on windowsWindows XP, and is against the TOSStack Exchange TOS.
Now, lets talk about what might be an acceptable question. Lets talk about nlitenLite and such tools. A question about a replacement for nlitenLite may be on topic for software recs. A question about working out what to remove on an osOS install might be overbroad but potentially on topic here. With the limitation that you might have broken your own install preinstall, some questions on stripping down and running a stripped down OS may be on topic.