bleak outlook... (Score 1)

You're correct about the creative elements of programming, and how work programming really isn't as passionate as free time programming. At the same time, I think you're missing a piece of the puzzle. If no one cares about user interface and ease of use, why develop GTK, GNOME, KDE, the hoards of window managers, etc. It's obviously a sore spot in the OSS community that is trying to be addressed with these many GUI elements.