which, as painful as it may be, is ok. Better to have a safe functional stdlib library than a exposed external crate (which then asks the question; what's the replacement...)
We also have the classic example of PHP with numerous not safe stdlib ways to use mysql.
To me the answer is still to vendor your dependencies and don't be on the bleeding edge of updates unless you're willing to invest the time into validating them.
I think it goes without saying that emulating PHP is rarely a good decision.
No, I prefer what rust is doing. It suits a system programming language. Which is what Rust is.
Not sure what the issue with std::format would be here, you would have to elaborate. Obviously you need to specify a minimum version to have support for it at all.
Not every application requires internationalisation, especially server code or internal company tools.