They don't miss the point. We're well aware they aren't ubiquitous and that is indeed one of their costs.[1]

If the old tools are working well for you, then keep using them! I used plain grep for well over a decade before writing ripgrep. Hell, sometimes I still use grep for precisely the reason you describe: it is ubiquitous.

Also, not every grep behaves the same. Not even close. Unless you're being paranoid about how you use grep, it's likely you've used some feature that isn't in POSIX and thus isn't portable.

Uniquity and portability aren't "the point." Uniquity is a benefit and portability can be a benefit or a cost, depending on how you look at it.

[1] - https://github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep/blob/master/FAQ.md#pos...