Anyone who willfully uses a slotted screw on a new project in the presence of even somewhat reasonable alternatives should have a lifetime ban on designing any items for anyone.
it’s single valid use: somewhere that you may not have tools but might require an impromptu fix… preferably paired with a much larger screw than technically required so you can use things like coins as a driver
That is actually a feature of this design. They were the answer to in-line screwdrivers who had no precise stopping torque: cam-out before the thread is damaged.
I know it’s an intentional feature, but it’s a bad feature. Camming out damages the head of the screw. This exchanges repairability for manufacturing simplicity. Additionally, the sloped shape makes it possible to use slightly oversized or undersized drivers, further increasing the chance of camming out and damaging the screwhead.
Square drive on personal projects, forever and always. Maybe I’m buying the wrong torx, Phillips, and flat screws, but they strip out way too often. I’ve never had issues with square drive screws no matter where or how I use them
Sadly, some of the more exotic ones have been used to dissuade third-party repair. Some repair shops have been on a mission to replace iPhone screws with more common standards to facilitate general access.
I hate phillips. It seems like their only purpose for existing is to strip out so that you can never remove them.
Personally, any time I have a project, I always opt for torx (star). The screwdriver bits for them are not tapered so they don't push themselves back out of the screw-head (unlike phillips), so they tend to stay in place and grip much better. It's a lot harder to screw up a torx screw or bit than a phillips one.
They actually were designed to cam out in low torque applications so consumers could not over-tighten them. The problem is now those consumers only know what a phillips is, so they’re used for everything.
Square is my favorite but never used in industrial maintenance much. The square combos are on new electrical devices for construction though. I use mostly Phillips/slotted. A few security torx. Lots of hex heads, and all the small electrical terminals are slotted.
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