It is used it in a fair amount of Julia code. I’ve used it. It’s handy, and it’s clear what’s happening.
But, obviously, this is the least important of your criticisms.
I am trying to find a robust way to deploy Julia inside a python project. People have put a ton of work into Julia-Python interop in general. But, the parts closer to deployment are not there yet. It would be a great place for people to lend a hand. (This has been known for long time.) But, it has to compete with the other pressing issues you mentioned.