I think the distinction Jason is making here--and I don't think its _entirely_ valid, but I understand why he's making it--is that the new BRP doesn't attempt to provide a tool for every purpose. It gives a basic system, some optional rules, and some add-ons that might be useful for common uses of the system, but its not attempting to be a true one-size-fits all multifunction system.
(The reason I don't think this is entirely valid is a I think toolkitting is a matter of degree rather than an absolute; as an example, at least prior to GURPS current edition (which I've not read nor own, so I don't want to comment on too much, but some have said its moved more in this direction), it only went so far in this direction; it had a psionics system and a magic system, but they made pretty specific assumptions, even if they had some toggling, and if you needed something that worked by different assumptions, or overlapped more, you were back to building your own. Hero goes farther in this direction, trying to make the build bits as atomic as it can, but even there there are always arguments that even those bits make assumptions themselves. And so it goes).
That said, I think there's something to be said for both approaches; a core system designed to have dedicated subsystems made for it can make for a better fit sometimes than one that has a more generic subsystem maker attached. Its just more work, and gives you less guidance, so for most people there's a tradeoff.
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