Comment by Towaway69
I wrote an article about this[1] and you are definitely right: a lot of packages are rotting away a bit however, because NodeRED does a lot to stay backward compatible, older packages still work. The oldest ones I'm actively using are five or more years old, i.e., haven't been touched nor updated - still work.
What I tried to say in the article is the same as you say: base NodeRED, the core works really well and has great features - no questions. And even if packages die, the core will still remain usable and that makes a difference.
Its a bit like saying Linux is a pile of broken bits because the ls command has been updated in ten years: Linux will always work and those commands that are based on the core will continue to work becausae the Linux kernel will largely remain backward compatible. Packages fail when they have external dependencies that change but code that is solely based on the core will continue to work.