Yeah, I don’t think the curl example was meant as a knock against curl or advice not to use it. I think any command-line user would agree that curl is not bad or bloated software, which is what they criticize.

The point seemed to be that even a rock-solid tool like curl started out tiny — just a few hundred lines — before growing to cover all the edge cases you’re describing. It’s more about showing that you can start with something simple for your own needs and customize it without depending on someone else.