[zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC]

> I haven't felt the need to learn more about v6, and it is quite complex

No, it isn't.

> I would've gladly accepted and adopted a version that's just IPv4 plus 16 bits of extra address space

That's what IPv6 is for the most part.

> That would've solved the original address shortage problem, and would be a breeze to configure.

So is IPv6.

[pas]

You are right, but it doesn't matter. Because even if v6 is easy to configure, usually the things you can't configure are broken and they are hard to fix. For example your upstream provider is stupid. Or a client's software, or some 3rd party server somewhere you have to live with.