Given that there is basically one standard implementation, and virtually nobody has ever had an issue with compatibility with a given file, I don't see how it i

Given that there is basically one standard implementation, and virtually nobody has ever had an issue with compatibility with a given file, I don't see how it is "inadequate". Sure, if it's inadequate now, it'll be inadequate if you read it in a decade, but not in any way which would prevent you from reading it. If your storage fails, maybe you'll have a problem, but you'd have a problem anyway. Sometimes I feel like genuine technical concerns are buried by the authors being jerks and blowing things way out of proportion. I, for one, tend to lose interest when I hear hyperbolic mudslinging.