The problem, and ultimately the reason most people are up in arms, is that this new "solution" (to a largely non-existent problem for most sysadmins) takes away something fundamental and core to Linux (and UNIX in general): freedom. As in the ability to freely choose what software to use and how to use it on your own systems.
In this particular case, a unilateral decision was made by the major distros at the cost of that freedom. That kind of decision making was not something people, who have lived and breathed the free (as in liberty) software movement most of their careers, ever expected to see in their own community - in Microsoft/Apple's manicured gardens sure, but not here. It's easy for most people to forget that the Linux community came to be largely what it is /because/ of the freedom to choose - not in spite of it.