Personally, I couldn't disagree more strongly with the OP of this thread.
In my view, the benefit of GoS is that it provides a solid base for a user to configure their own device, to meet their own requirements, while supporting security and privacy. Part of achieving that is not shipping with too many additional apps that not all users need which - among other things - increases attack surface.
In my ideal world, I would actually like to see GoS reduce the number of non-core apps included in a fresh installation even further. The only apps installed would be those that are absolutely necessary and/or require system-level privileges (such as Settings, the GoS App repository). I would treat other apps (even GoS first party apps) as optional, so not part in the fresh install, but list them in the App repository - so the user can elect to install them. For example, I would deem the AOSP Phone App as optional - not all users use their phone to make phone calls and, for those who do, there are third party alternatives (from Play Store or other repositories).
I don't suggest that GoS developers should do the above. My point is, I would support them if they decided to deliver a stable system with a smaller number of pre-installed apps and would grumble about more pre-installed Apps that are not useful/essential to a functioning operating system.
If a user cares about security and/or privacy, they should make conscious decisions about how they set up and use their device. That includes picking the hardware, picking the operating system, thinking carefully about what functionality they need (or want to avoid), selecting available Apps that meet their needs.
On the other hand, Apple pitched the "It just works" slogan to people who just want to use their devices without thinking much (or, often, at all) about what it really takes (such as engineering or development effort) to make that happen. Among other things, a lot of Apple users have accepted an illusion that a set of "useful" Apps is immediately available to use and all "just work" when they unbox their device and turn it on for the first time. Even Apple (with its current huge engineering and development resources) has struggled in recent years to sustain that illusion, so some Apple customers have had their eyes opened and found their emperor has a shortage of clothing. Hence threads like this one, seeking an alternative to recapture the illusion. Unfortunately, it takes more effort than they have been conditioned to think it does. For GoS, that would mean compromising core work of supporting a security or privacy conscious user base.