No, I think you’re making this suggestion because you disagree on the approach the developers have taken to frontmatter management.
Have I misread the situation?
Since you can understand, why are you so eager to kick me over to other software?
Now, let’s get back to the main point. None of this is a reason to silently alter user data. Note formats shouldn’t be forcibly imposed and changed.
I’m not, I’m only offering an option. If you think I’m eager for anything, you might want to consider how much you are reading into text messages that is not there. Nobody is trying to kick you anywhere… 
Discussing these subjective matters is pointless. The crucial questions here are: Has the user’s data been altered? Do users have the choice not to be modified? Are they informed when their data is changed? I believe these questions are more important.
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In my opinion, no.
The only thing that has been modified is the layout of a section intended to be read and written by software, rather than by the user.
Don’t get me wrong - I was surprised and a little frustrated by this change too, but I adapted my mode of working and now I’m fine with it. It’s easier for software to access it and that’s all good with me!
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This might be its intended purpose, but the truth is, it’s plain text, and many users read and write YAML. As long as people do that, we can’t say it’s exclusively for software. After all, the only constant in life is change.
Let’s call it quits. We have a fundamental disagreement on this basic premise, so further discussion would be rather futile. It’s often hard to change the minds of adults, and usually, when someone seeks advice, they already have an answer in mind; the purpose of seeking advice is merely to confirm that their answer is the right one.
I wasn’t saying not to speak up, only that you mentioned that the app is supposed to be “for you, forever”. The app is, you want certain functionality which is still available in a pre-1.4 version meaning you still get to use the app and the exact functionality you like.
Upgrading to 1.4.X means that you are going to have to deal with the new functionality in the app. Just like an OS (Windows, Mac, Linus) there is new functionality people do/don’t like which means a decision must be made on whether to upgrade or stick with the current, working version. For instance, I use Sketchup 2017 because it’s the last free desktop version they made. I don’t care about all the extra features added over the years, just want a free desktop app.
Maybe an option would be to make a feature request to have the Properties function fully toggled on/off essentially giving backwards compatibility?
In fact, I rolled back to versions 1.3.7 and 1.3.5, but they still silently altered the YAML, just in a more concealed way, which is why I didn’t notice it earlier. I don’t want to continue attempting rollbacks; instead, I’d prefer Obsidian itself to offer more comprehensive format compatibility since I’m using valid YAML format.
I’ve mentioned this viewpoint in some posts. Perhaps I should create a separate Feature Request for it, and another one requesting Obsidian to notify me after modifying my data.
I don’t think anyone is eager to drive you away from Obsidian. Many here are simply trying to help but you seem intent on being critical or otherwise unreceptive.
I have not seen my individual files change as you have started yours have. At the end of the day, YAML front matter is not a part of my note, just for organizing with the Obsidian software. My note data is still there and table in any text editor.
I get your frustration. You worked extremely hard to make a system that worked and without warning an update broke this. You are not the first this has happened to and you won’t be the last. Seems this board is just trying to help us all. Please except it in that spirit and not as an attack.
May I recommend that you turn off the automatic update, on any software, so you know what the new changes will bring before being surprised?
Would you expand on this please?
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