Installation of strapi core (node modules) and project in separate directory

I found this, which explains my confusion (frustration?):

I understand that this is a design choice to clamp down on module drift that leads to incompatibility problems, but

  1. it also results is heavier lifting in projects where 3rd party pieces (the modules) really should not be included in one’s own project - a local project might be a few MB tops - not 650 MB

  2. It also makes is harder to do upgrades, especially when it is important to nimbly respond to published vulnerabilities

Have these two issues been addressed somewhere that I am just not seeing?