I would not consider in poor engineering judgement. It is a judgement yes. By using binary, you don't need conversion but lose computational power. By using ternary, you lose thru conversion but gain computational power.
In the end of the day, you have to choose as a dev.
So to your point, I don't consider it a red flag. You can even interpret it as "thinking outside the box". Yes ternary is more complex, that's what the devs are here for.
-Can you explain why the use of ternary logic is red flag? I can explain why it is not but you have to justify your statement first. You calling the use of ternary logic a red flag must be based off of something I assume.
-They used a custom Hash functio called "Curl". But they now replaced it with KECCAK-384. Curl is now being reviewed by a third party.
So this John Ratcliff is actually crying because he can't reuse his address after sending from it. Please do know that Iota uses Winternitz one-time signature. Iota team discussed already the pros and cons of this choice. And not reusable address is a known and conscious decision from the devs.
In the end of the day, you have to choose as a dev.
So to your point, I don't consider it a red flag. You can even interpret it as "thinking outside the box". Yes ternary is more complex, that's what the devs are here for.