Being slightly pedantic, I would say it's the way with the highest potential image quality. Whether that is "right" depends on the user requirements and capability.
Slapping together a timelapse of medium res jpegs with no post processing at all is perfectly reasonable for some users, and rawopint can give pretty decent results in this case.
I didn't want to go there, but just assumed Right Way was spelled with capitals......if you are a believer this is the Thruth.
it all depends, yes.
I've been making timelapse, stop-motion and animation for over 10 years now and my methods change sometimes per project depending on what is feasable at that moment.
at first i used an external trigger.
but after chdk 0.7 or so i placed it on my a480, everybody thought i was a nutter leaving the Right Way behind..I still have that a480 today
although i really had to update that software to 1.5 last year, i still have the 0.7 so i can always revert back
and i actually don't have an external trigger anymore..it's on my "todo" list for a few years now: building an arduino based trigger.
my projects might include raw, but especially for longer, high volume shoots, i don't consider that an option.
it's not that i don't like the quality or possibilitys, the data is just too much...with mostly jpg I already have >10TB dedicated for storage and throw away old/rendered material weekly because i need the space
furthermore, if it ends up in a hd movie the added value of raw vs jpg is minimal in my opinion.
about processing csv. well, actually i use UI mostly because it suits my need best and that has a ssv instead of csv. and i haven't really
found looked for a way to script process those logs reliable. i just haven't gotten around to that in the past 10 years.....but as soon as i find time...i'll do something else first
About post-processing I feel the same..it is unavoidable. but I really like to minimize post processing for things I could have solved previously on the cam.