I’m involved in motorsports so I like these analogies. I’m familiar with darktable by now, and I do think that it has some quirks - but I accept those in the same way that my brother accepts a harsh ride in exchange for handling, lots of engine vibration in exchange for optimum response from the drivetrain, and so on.
Ideally, yes, one would have everything just right, but it’s not a perfect world…
I think it should also be remembered that darktable hasn’t been around all that long - dunno when 1.0 came out, but in comparison with many things I use it’s pretty recent, and of course it’s developed by by essentially volunteers - same as many of the rally cars I’ve been around…
Don’t know where I’m going with this really - just my 2c worth!