1) Coinjoin as I see it adds some plausible deniability but the taint is still there. Anonymity is probably not the right word. If one of the input addresses is considered a red flag,
This is really a question for how _much_ these tools are used. What you're pointing to is that there is an information leak whenever the anonymity set is less than all users of the system.
I guess I wasn't going that deep.. just pointing out that coinjoin still leaves blockchain taint. Whereas something like me and you swapping private keys or another off chain solution like a third party tumbler does not leave block chain taint. Of course nothing is perfect as you point out so I do support any improvement in privacy.
If, after you've exhausted the funds sent to a particular scriptPubKey, someone sends you a tiny amount of coin to that scriptPubKey and you spend it in a new transaction then whatever linkage they knew carries forward and your deanonymization grows as a sufficiently small payment will only be useful when spent in combination with other coins.
Thanks, I get it now. I didn't really understand the dust was going to empty addresses, to see if they later get used. Still seems odd but now I know what you folks were talking about