Oh I agree, there is no perfect solution. I have alcohol stoves btw, which do work quite well, and as they are small and use limited amounts of alcohol they could be a welcome addition to a cooking kit. I have tried those made from aluminum cans, and I liked them very much but I also found in cold weather, you need to keep the fuel bottle warm by keeping it near your body as the stoves without working parts work by the off-gases from the alcohol, and when it's cold out, the evaporation doesn't work as well to give you those gases.
I like the wood-gas stoves as the fuel grows in nature, and as far as I am concerned are not "open" fires. They tend to be smaller and more efficient in some cases compared to a brazier with hardwood charcoal.
LD