Voynich Manuscript as a charlatan's prop

[eggyk]

I think the "hoax" theory" is a case of study - how we respond to an unsolved problem. 
When an object resists us for a long time, the temptation comes to say the object is invalid, rather than to admit- "We cannot solve it".
It is less genuine argument and more a way of giving up.
Consider two of the most brilliant cryptographers in history- Friedmans, who broke codes that the nation depended on dealt for years with VM.
When they couldn't crack it they considered it to be meaningsless.
"Hoax" is just another word for nothing left to say.

Perhaps in that case, yes, "Hoax" was the only option those cryptographers had other than "we don't know", which was clearly an unacceptable thing for them to admit to themselves. 

However, "meaningless text" / "hoax" theories that start from the ground up with coherent logic and reasoning are not the same as that. To say "it has meaning, because x and y" is just as genuine as "it has no meaning, because x and y".

Nor is it giving up. If research on this hypothesis leads to new, previously unknown information, that could have benefits for all sides. For example, discovering similar hoaxes, or discovering aspects of hoaxes that the VMS shares, discovering new historical figures who could be relevant, or discovering historical precedent to which the VMS can be compared. That research could well lead to the conclusion that the VMS is not a hoax, too.