This page was inspired by the talk “Platform as a Reflection of Values: Joyent, node.js, and beyond” by Bryan Cantrill. I highly recommend you to watch it to get a deeper understanding of what platform values are.
All of the above-specified values are good, and no one would argue that their platform should be unapproachable, insecure, etc. Unfortunately, you can’t focus on all of them at the same time. Decision making requires you to make trade-offs. For example, when security is a core value and approachability isn’t then approachability can’t come at the cost of security.
By being upfront with your values you can prevent them from becoming diluted, which can help you attract like-minded contributors, and perhaps steer away those, who focus on different values. Ultimately, being transparent with the focus of your platform provides a valuable tool in the decision-making process and helps in choosing the direction in which to steer it.