It's generally better to cam out without wrecking the head than to cam out only under sufficient force as to tear up the slots.
Philips usually damage the head when camming out because as they cam out the total contact surface slowly goes to zero, so at some point the pressure exceeds the strength of the metal.
Exactly this - camming out as a protective feature is hugely over-blown and possibly totally false. In my experience, only the very cheapest of cheese-grade screws (a la Aliexpress) chew up without camming out.
camming out wasn't to protect the screws, it was to protect the sheet metal...
Right. In my experience, JIS screwdrivers lose contact faster if you're off-angle so they don't have the same opportunity to trash the head.