I've been using Elm on and off for projects for the last couple of years. I find that most of the complaints are just discomfort at how Elm isn't developed the way that many other projects are. It gets in people's heads that they have to trust in Evan's judgment when they don't see a new release popping out every quarter.

I actually like the pace of releases and lack of frequent breaking changes. I'll put some projects aside for 6 months here and there, then come back to them when I have time. Most rapidly-evolving frameworks require you to update all your libraries and fix a ton of breaking changes when you don't touch them for a few months (I'm looking at you, Swift). After I spend all that maintenance time, I often wonder at the value of those changes in the first place. Were they really changes that buy me new flexibility with the language? Or were things just renamed and shuffled around with syntax changes made for no great reason?

When talking to people about using Elm, I discourage them from using it if they're the kind to obsess over the release cycle of a framework that's stable today and that allows them to get quality work done.