Model inheritance is indeed hell. Doesn't necessarily mean it should be removed (it might be a good shortcut and might be fine depending on your performance req

Model inheritance is indeed hell. Doesn't necessarily mean it should be removed (it might be a good shortcut and might be fine depending on your performance requirements) but it should be handled with care for sure. Same with generic foreign keys. I don't necessarily agree with your objections around how Django apps structure their database though. The need to access said database outside of Django should be a business requirement that's considered and if needed taken into account when designing the models. For projects that don't have said requirement it's not a problem because nothing meaningful should be accessing the DB (and if it does, then the application should be changed). It's kind of complaining that some third-party application's internal data file format doesn't suit your needs - well yes obviously it as it was never designed with you in mind in the first place.