For RSS feeds, Kerberos authentication resolves that issue. For records management, have you explored the Records Center and Information Management Policies? As for customization, in my years of experience with MOSS (since Nov 06) I have found that sometimes certain elements that looked like absolute roadblocks were in reality pretty simple to get over. I can't even count how many times I've banged my head against the wall over something that someone else knew how to fix in 5 minutes. Knowlegdge and creativity are key to successful SharePoint configuration and development. I agree that it has a "jack-of-all-trades" syndrome, but really, what else does so much in one unified system?