How would you feel if someone came out with an article about "echelon's code isn't just bad, it's outright dangerous" and wrote a whole article attacking and shaming you, just because you might benefit from it?

Sure you might benefit, but there are much more constructive, kinder ways to do it. Even if he and his code aren't great, Goyal's done a lot of free public service here. Let's not be dicks.

If you want to learn about the codebase, here it is https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibre