XML proponents always trot out "we're just not there yet" or "the basic idea is good, we just need some small fixes", or "parsers just need improvement -- use a

XML proponents always trot out "we're just not there yet" or "the basic idea is good, we just need some small fixes", or "parsers just need improvement -- use a better parser library", or any other number of excuses as to why XML doesn't actually suck, it's just a victim of poor implementations or to-be-fixed design inadequacies. Meanwhile, Protobuf and Thrift work today. They're fast, they're size efficient, and unlike XML, they're simple. It's time to stop making excuses for XML. It's an inexcusable ball of poorly designed unjustifiable complexity created by architecture astronauts run amok. I'm disappointed at the upvotes on a whole page of platitudes on why XML isn't a bad format, it's just misunderstood.