I think you are still under the impression that success is still based on codebase and you just need the perfect source code to build the most successful service. That's wrong. Success is built on relentless labor, continuous marketing and luck. That's why Gitlab can build a successful company while dailymotion can fail to build what is functionally not new.
I think you're lacking enough data points to determine what impression I'm under, making assumptions as to my perspective, where my question is coming from.
There is a competitive advantage to not giving your future competition a heads up by providing them your keys to the foundation of your Kingdom. Sure, they'll copy what you do eventually if what you're doing is working, but why make that easier for them?
If someone is seriously going to take on the current systems and sees value in part or all of PeerTube then it's not a substantial part of the cost, because as you say, it's not the codebase that's important - though it becomes a conversation piece if it means any additions to the codebase reduces an even temporary competitive advantage from potential future competitors.
