[morgante]

So, EAV and even "inner platforms" are not always necessarily bad, so long as you know that's what you're doing.

For example, Firefox extensions could be easily considered an inner platform but they have the benefit of providing a platform which is safer and more extensible than the underlying OS.

Likewise, EAV provides a poor functional replacement for an actual database. But they also prove a lower curve for implementing very simple extensions and limit the capacity for trivial mistakes. Speaking from experience, it's the WordPress sites where plugins have created a whole bunch of extra poorly-built tables that worry me most.