> Git doesn't support them very well. Bugs are disappointing frequent

I can't remember any "bug" in the submodule machinery. If you find one, report to the Git mailing list, they very receptive.

> Having to constantly remember `git submodule update --init --recursive`

Set this config: `git config submodule.recurse true`

> IMO they're almost always the wrong solution.

Yeah... but sometimes they are the only feasible solution, especially when the dependency needs to be shared across projects that use incompatible dependency managers and Git is the only common denominator between them...