If the OSR were strictly preservation, than I agree it would not require existing due to the internet, PDFs, rereleases and so on.
So the OSR may contain that somewhat, but I think there's an argument to be made that people generally felt that the ruleset of 1e had not been fully explored and to do more with it than was done in it's day.
A very good argument, with abundant examples!
Dungeon Crawl Classics; Acts as a distillate, a hyper-focused AD&D that never was, incorporating spiffy mechanics for roleplaying KEWL M0V3Z that make the fighter interesting without giving him a bunch of silly quasi-magical powers. HARD random, HARD unique magic, WACK spellcasting, luck rolls etc. etc.
Adventurer Conqueror King; Uses a B/X framework but changes up the endgame to a more grounded, domain-level experience. Builds on the rudimentary framework for skills and abilities that started with proficiencies and delivers more customization options, while avoiding hideous bloat. Also contains; Sweet ass USEABLE economy rules for added versimiltude, rules for mutilation and crippling injury as an alternative to the 0 hp you are dead mechanic, more flavorful Ressurection rules, overal a finely crafted game.
Stars Without Number; is probably the most famous of Crawford's games, but his real contribution was the development of tools that allow one to quickly generate entire sectors worth of stuff to explore, as well as nifty faction rules to model an ever-shifting map of shifting alliances. If anything can be attributed to the OSR it has been the ressurrection and refinement of Hexcrawling as a an adventure model (vis a vis dungeoncrawling).
And the list goes on, for whatever level of relevance one may deem necessary, until you get to people's homebrew books that are played by maybe 20 people. After the 2nd wave of the OSR, people started innovating more, which makes sense. I don't think there will be a fourth wave and the current hobby needs LESS retroclones NOT MORE but the simple, more rng-oriented framework with a greater reliance on arbitration, creativity and out-of-the-box thinking has been put back on the map. It's started to reach the point where games are coming out that may or may not still be labelled OSR, which is a good indication that a lot of intervening niches have been filled. Mörkborg, Tröika...weird stuff.
I'm starting to think the OSR for some has become a belief with its own dogma and orthodoxies and that's frequently why we run into friction here.
I read x blogs and digest and internalize their arguments and that becomes my world view on hex crawls and procedural mechanics and whether Gary was a rock god etc. and at a certain point I become saturated and am no longer open to ideas that stand in opposition to what I already believe.
It's one thing for us to discuss philosophies and another to attack my comfy, cozy beliefs.
Yet when asked for a reason behind certain preferences these questions are very often answered intelligently and motivated by argumentation, not authority. Contrary to what has been stated, I have not seen a single Bryce Says Therefore It Is So since I took up the position of moderator. It is of course possible I have read over them.
There is undoubtedly a dogmatic streak within the OSR at large but there is also a larger reliance on homebrewing and doing things yourself that creates a sort of self-reliance and a willingness of innovate. Just check out the various blog posts on how each person interprets magic or handles Orcs or whathaveyou. The lack of booksworth of source-material basically leaves the interpretation of a lot of the material up to each individual GM, which generates a plethora of viewpoints, not a circle-jerk.
