Yeah as a non-Java user I have to say I'm very surprised. I wouldn't recommend just using print(), but a library needs to do very little (format like printf, filter by level (maybe depending on source file), output to text or JSON).

I don't understand how people would use a library as massive as log4j and not bother looking at what's in the box, and what they need to enable/disable. Blaming it on the opensource product seems weird when you grabbed it for free and didn't even read what's written on the box.