Hackers do not care about 99% of users, as evidenced by the fact that Apple created the most popular and accessible consumer software in history, not hackers.
You make a reasonable point that the poster didn’t imply painfulness made the Altstore not worthwhile for them personally.
iOS was popular far before it was a dominant global business. It was probably one of the most popular software projects of all time even in its first version.
iPod and iTunes Store were probably more popular than any project ever built by hackers. Why haven’t hackers, who care about 99% of users, ever been able to make software those users care to use? What private API stands between hackers and epiphany?
(also "pain" and "worth it" aren't contradictory)