> What is the general view of the community about this?

I don't know about the general view of the community, but, as a data
point, I find it very sad.

Exactly how I feel. Particularly so because org-cite was indeed inspired from org-ref and all the great work John has done on this over the years. I do not see any substantive discussion of the limitations that John has pointed out with org-cite in the archives of the mailing list. We should have a conversation about those.

If I understand correctly, the main limitation according to him is that org-cite does not handle cross-references. Is that the only problem? What do others think about it? Do we want the citation system to be able to handle cross-references? If not, do we need a separate system that handles cross-references beyond what is available in org-mode already? Can that system not be created in a manner that would not break the org-cite syntax?

I think we should have a conversation and collectively think of what is the best way forward.

Vikas