Tom,
I would have to disagree with you on some points.
However, i will admit that you are right on regarding the development speed of core modules, I am a member of the documents module team and I am so upset with the process that it is hard to fathom, I have been sending e-mails and asking for updates typically once a week or two for the last 6 months tyring to get our module out and I have yet to be successful. I still don't even know where the problem is, but it is a problem. Is it a critical problem that stops people from using DNN? No not at all. I still believe that DNN has a lot of value to developers and consumers, if I didn't I wouldn't do as much business with it as I do.
The site load times etc, that is not a DNN issue but an ASP.NET issue, it would apply for DNN, Community Server, and any other technology solution built on the .NET framework. SO I don't see this as a critical item, yes it is an education item, but not a show stopper issue for releasing a site.
As for support etc, there is a very healthy environment out there for DNN based support and I think with time it will only get better.