In reply to James.

The moderator did essentially say "whatever the plugin author does is A-OK, you're free to find something else". I don't think you fully agree with them on that, and I don't think they'd stand by that position if they think it through.

Install a crypto-miner? "It's open source, be thankful for what you get or use something else". Install a backdoor and take over the site? "It's open source, be thankful for what you get or use something else".

No, obviously those are not okay, and I doubt you'll find someone who argues that it is in good faith. It's a weird overreaction from a moderator after they locked a topic to have the last word, and then add something like that.

If that's the opinion of the WP core team, I'm horrified regarding security.