(and now Lightning / Deposits)
Ecash is more private than *KYC custodial Lightning*. But strip the identity away, and you have an address that makes and receives onion payments. Who sent me funds? Dunno. Who received my funds? Not really sure about that either - depends on how the invoice was constructed. What custodial Lightning has is 1) client logs, and 2) payment timings. There is the notable edge case where both wallets use the same custodian, providing full details.
But, what is a address? This is more private than on-chain transactions because not every transaction is available to the entire network. If there existed a protocol that was only as private as the chain, while simultaneously being as fast and cheap as Lightning, would there not be value in it? Imagine swapping value between this system and ecash based on when you plan to use it. I have.
I'm not convinced DOR Lightning is broken. If you push it into difficult corners it tends to break down, but for a few hundred dollars of hardware sitting on a relatively stable connection, it mostly just works. Instead of pushing it harder into uncomfortable territory, I propose that we build something on top of it. Messy? Sure. Half baked? Probably, there's only one guy in the kitchen.
Regarding Spillman channels, I'm not sure of the benefit. It's simpler, but doesn't seem to solve real problems on its own.