I learned long ago in my Linux use that Debian is a favorite among programmers and distro designers. Even if I hadn't read this, I could have figured it out, with the great number of distros based on Debian. It just occurred to me that I don't actually know why. What characteristics in Debian appeal to designers? I've tried it a few times but only briefly.

I can't very well answer for everyone but from what I've seeen, Debian tends to favor stability over having the latest and greatest of functionalities built into OS. As someone who frequently changes distros (because why not) I've noticed that (for the most part) Debian will very rarley break due to updates/upgrades whereas other, particularly bleeeding edge distros, seem to be break more often. Just my two cents

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It obviously depends on circumstances. Most distros based on Debian use the Unstable version; for them, the attraction is the size of the repository. As for programers, if they are employees, they use what they're given; if they are freelance, they use what gives the least trouble, so the Stable version will appeal. Years ago, Linus said he liked Ubuntu (pre-Unity days!) because it just worked: he wanted to use his computer, not tinker with it.

I'm not often a programer (although the other day I did find myself removing an obscure bug in an undocumented program I'd written around 1990!) but I hate Debian because I find it so fiddly to configure and it only comes with 3-years' support — hence CentOS and Salix.

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IMO, gotta be the repos baby!!

Seriously, nooone has a larger software repository than Debian, and this makes it a lot easier to customize than OS's with smaller repos.

Because it's the "Universal OS" is my dumb bunny guess.

I chose Debian in part because I read somewhere that it installs with good default settings related to security.

My money is on that "rock-solid stable" thing.

My guess would be "predictability".

There are set (well documented) policies and procedures around packaging software and release criteria and security support of the stable branch.

If you're building a platform for "production" use, you don't want the rug pulled out from under you by the base distro suddenly upgrading libraries and package versions and changing functionality just because there is a new shiny version of something released upstream.