What do you mean "never get any real answers"? The obvious answer is that right now Ripple is controlled by OpenCoin and its affiliates. The protocol is distributed though and the software holds great promise if it is open sourced, as OpenCoin has announced it will be, and as appears to be greatly in their interest. If they are successful, it will be great for the ideals the Bitcoin community has been pursuing. Being skeptical is one thing, but many here appear to be out to stop it from being successful. That suggests they aren't doing it out of idealism, but out of selfishness, perhaps because they worry their stash of BTC will not make them rich after all. Actually, I think Ripple will be great for them because it will provide them with an excellent, and nearly impossible to suppress, exchange mechanism between BTC and fiat currencies.