The thing is, it's neither. You can split the package into multiple pieces, you can replace each of them with whatever you want, the only difference is that instead of serializing-deserializing through plain text, the modules pass full objects so you may need to add a translation layer for the traditional tools pushing serial text.

It's more like the debate between sh and PowerShell/JSON/XML/etc. Some like to grep and cut things, some prefer to address object properties. Some like plain text logs, some prefer compressed binary object logs.

Both come with their pros and cons, but in practice either can be tinkered with and controlled to the same degree.

You called it "bloated" which makes it sound you like you did not know that.