Are subversion externals an antipattern?

Question

Subversion lets you embed working copies of other repositories using externals, allowing easy version control of third-party library software in your project.

While

Answer 1

The main risk with using svn:externals is that the referenced repository will be changed in a way that breaks your code or introduces a security vulnerability. If the external repository is also under your control, then this may be acceptable.

Personally, I only use svn:externals to point to "stable" branches of a repository that I own.