I suspect that there are two reasons for this. One is that everyone is happy with their own choices (and few have experience with more than one outboard). The other is that the usage scenarios, whether actual or anticipated, can differ quite a bit.
Your mileage may vary.
I have personal experience with 3 setups on the DS. I've sailed with someone on a weeklong trip who had a 2.5HP without reverse, I've sailed on my boat, both with a trolling motor and a modern 0.3HP electric outboard. (I've used an outboard a few times on a non-DS boat).
The internal combustion outboard was awkward to use and after working the first day, utterly refused to start again. This was doubly annoying as it was intended as a means to "self rescue" from a sparsely populated area. It was noisy and there was some oil leak during transport, some of which got in the water. I would not recommend outboards with no reverse, especially not if you expect crew that is not trained in that to take over while docking. While it had the range to get us home, that became immaterial once it refused to work. (I had better success sailing in and out of marinas and anchorages for the remaining trip, compared to trying to dock under motor).
The trolling motor I used for many years was intended for use in protected waters (some with tides) in (densely) populated areas. Its main drawback were the lead acid batteries. Very heavy and each only good for 40min full power. In over a decade of use, the motor failed once, due to a battery that was dead on arrival at the dock. Maintenance was limited to keeping the batteries charged (and keeping them from discharging out of season). Tidal currents I deal with either by timing, or by motoring close to shore where the currents are weaker.
The electric outboard is super light (including batteries it weighs less than the trolling motor, but despite it's low rated power actually moves the boat a tad faster). No maintenance, and so far, no observed degradation of the battery. The motor is so efficient, that it can be run via DC-to-DC converter from a 100Ah LiFePO battery (the ones sold as dropin replacement for 12V batteries) and should give nearly 5h of runtime. With the builtin battery it does about 1h. I've never had to do any maintenance, and never had the motor or battery fail. (The builtin battery can easily be carried to recharge if your destination or mid-day stop has electricity). Main use is to cross calm spots, traverse under bridges and get in/out of the dock when we don't feel like doing that under sail. And to get to and from the start line if we are racing on a light wind day.
I can attest that this "minimalist" system is strong enough to hold the boat into the wind at around 20kt. (I tried that when I wanted to take my sails down because the winds got stronger and more gusty that what I was happy to be sailing in). I can also attest that it's strong enough to tow another sailboat (a bit smaller than the DS) back to the marina.
I don't have experience sailing or motoring in chop, nor any anticipated scenario where that might be an issue.
But that's the point: each of us has different scenarios. I'm quite happy to rely on what I can do under sail when it comes to planning my trips. That makes any outboard a true auxiliary. I particular, I like not counting on it to bail me out, in the sense, that I avoid going into situations that I feel safe in only because of having a motor. I like to keep it quiet and reduce weight at the stern. I like the utter reliability of an electric system (my success in keeping anything that's small engine internal combustion in reliable working order on or off the water has been mixed). I like the fact that some of the newer outboards are even lighter than traditional trolling motors and I'm seriously eying an upgrade to allow extended range, now that prices for that have come down.