Just my two cents on this
a) Ct_Raidassist isn't a program, it's a fully legitimate mod which merely alters the UI to show more information then it normally would. This info is fully availible and useable, as per Blizz's TOA and the programming for it is included in the fully-open information they release for mod-makers.
b) This may come out WAY more offensive than I'm thinking it may be (and I'm not meaning to be offensive at all) but what are the specs on your machine that having CT_Raidassist running as your only mod causes that many problems? I'm honestly kind of curious, as I only had that issue happen once right after a patch when they broke something or other, and ct was murdering resources.
c) 1 or 2 people without is fine, but then Joe sees that jane and jack don't have CT_RA, so why should he...and then Mary...and then... It's the way it goes. Coming from being the ML, and having gone through enough raid content, I really think it's something everyone should make every effort to have running. It helps make coordination, planning, and raid-running smoother and much less stressful.