I count 3890 users with a custom trust list
This is very bad, worse then I thought. DT needs to go, so people can finally start using the trust system as it's intended. Either completely remove DT and start healing trust system slowly, or dilute DT which encourages people to make their own lists.
That list also includes people who have Default Trust included on their trust lists. It is actually a good sign and shows that thousands of people are augmenting DT with their own alterations as advised. I'd disagree with your interpretation and say this is better than I'd thought. I wonder what sort of growth is happening with users augmenting their lists?
I have DT in my trust list, and I use custom trust list, and I am heavily against DT.
Fact is that a really really small portion of forum users have a custom trust list. Quite small amount of users know about the trust system in the first place, but even when that is so, 4000 users having customized their trust list means that users aware of the trust system are clearly not customizing their trust lists.
The heaviest reason to include DT in the customized list is that there's no real reason to remove it as it was there by default. Another reason is that people want to have some sort of overview about what the view is for most of the users.
People should use custom lists and they should be encouraged and incentivized to do so. There should not be a structure like DT as it skews the whole trust system. Of course people who get something out of it tend to not find any reasons to object it, that's largely human nature. It's exactly the same thing as can be seen in the politics, but maybe by acknowledging it we can be better than that?
DT list is an anomaly in the trust system/network. Such should not exist, because eventually it builds up to be like any other top-down hierarchy as the time passes.
I'm happy to see that the one (also being the only one) who can truly change this DT thing doesn't like how it works either.
I am against DT and I also have DT on my custom trust list. It appears that you don't get why it is so. Maybe I or others can help you out? Feel free to PM me.