"Linked lists are cumbersome at best and wasteful at worst."

While totally agreeing that this must be the world's least appropriate application of linked lists, they definitely do have their niche in which they represent a perfectly elegant & economical solution; "cumbersome at best" is certainly an unworthy epithet.

Having said that, I would also agree that linked lists are unlikely to be appropriate to "small" systems - which would include most 8051-based designs.