I don't think this question should've been asked in the original blender thread. It's a specific question, looking for specific responses. And there has been a lot of discussion generated from a separate thread that would not have been had in the blender thread (note the wider variety of users). Also, for Alt + S, is not…
The rational behind many of Blender's shortcuts is that they correspond to the initial letter of the action. Not advocating any key combination over another, but hopefully providing some small insight into how and why Blender's default is the way it is. G - grab R - rotate S - scale H, shift+H, alt+H - hide, hide…