No. Of course open-source projects are better for learning absolutely everything about engine development, but that doesn't make 3DGS bad.

A7 provides an excellent environment for shader programming. A7 suffers from the requirement to re-invent the wheel, but that's only if you want the wheel in the first place. Shader-wise, A7 gives a tremendous amount of freedom, including automatic stepping down for older systems.

I'm not ignoring the fact that A7 could definitely use a better automatic shader system for those who don't want to write any, and just want effects that are common today. That's a clear and definite downside to A7.

That's a clear and definite plus to Unity.

For us shader programmers, A7 is brilliant. I remember when I bought Commercial for the first time and thought to myself, "Shaders? Well if I've got this feature I might as well see if I can use it!" One shader workshop later and I'm making my own effects however I want.

These days I invent my own effects for the purpose of experimentation (as other users here do as well), and sometimes stumble across something that's useful in an actual game for today's/yesterday's hardware.

Jibb