What's the most relevant idiom for something that is not the best solution and theoretically is far from the ideal. However, among the current solutions this the most appropriate and working one.
It should fit the following sentence:
Despite its disadvantages that causes it to not being the silver bullet, this method is the best available one. In fact, it can be considered as (______).
As good as it gets, is a common saying used to refer to:
- the best available (solution etc.) under the circumstances.
(yourdictionary.com)
The most appropriate saying I can think of is
The best of a bad bunch
The implication being that all available options are bad, but this one is the best one of them. It's still bad, but the alternatives are worse.
If you don't want to imply that you are picking from a pool of bad options, then maybe borrowing the term satisfice from behavioural economics would be suitable. It is a portmanteau of suffice and satisfy and the concept is that when there are too many choices to search for the truly optimal choice (or in your case to wait for it to become available), people will rather choose an option that is good enough. This could be because the cost of searching for the optimal choice outweighs the benefits or because humans are often not capable of mentally finding an optimal solution to a complicated problem (without the use of a computer).
Investopedia defines satisficing as:
A decision-making strategy that aims for a satisfactory or adequate result, rather than the optimal solution. This is because aiming for the optimal solution may necessitate needless expenditure of time, energy and resources. The term "satisfice" was coined by American scientist and Noble-laureate Herbert Simon in 1956.
In your example sentence, you might even want to just use sufficient or adequate.
A case of any port in the/a storm
When you have no choice, any port in a storm refers to a solution you accept, which in normal circumstances you would find unacceptable.
"The hotel was substandard, but it was a case of any port in a storm; all the others were full."
Accept whatever is available without knowing what it will be like.
"We were so hungry we decided to take pot luck and stopped at the first restaurant we saw."
Making the best of a bad situation
To do as well as possible under conditions that are not satisfactory
"The only way to survive being jailed is to make the best of a bad situation."
Tallest man in the midget parade
Used when making a comparison among a group where none are outstanding.
It's certainly an idiom, though you would have to consider whether it is appropriate for your intended audience.
You might consider Stopgap, since it implies that the current solution is sub-optimal, that it is the only available solution, and that it will be replaced as soon as possible, all in the same word.
someone or something that is intended to be used for a short time and then replaced by someone or something better
Despite its disadvantages, this method is the best we've got.
In some contexts you might be able to use "the lesser evil" or "the lesser of two evils"; but it must be the case that the two alternatives can be described as "bad", or hurtful to someone etc. (for you to be able to refer to them as "evils").
Pragmatic as defined by the ODO:
Dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.
Deeming the solution 'tactical'emphasises that the an important problem at hand is being solved, even if not in the 'ideal' way.
From "Coding the Architecture":
“… we just need a quick, tactical solution”
Famous words that will strike fear into a software development team! In my experience, there’s no such thing as a tactical solution? What this really means is…
“… we need something built as quickly as possible and, although we think it will have a limited lifespan, it will more than likely remain in use for some time into the future”
The "second best" or "second best solution" sometimes mean a default non optimal choice.
For example, in economics, the theory of the second best concerns the situation when one or more optimality conditions cannot be satisfied.
There are two different words that may approach the concept. One is for a physical object and the other for an idea or process.
Let us look at transportation for the object solution.
"Despite its disadvantages that causes it to not being the silver bullet, the combustible engine is the best available one. In fact, it can be considered as the (_ stock_) solution for transportation.
The 2nd one for an idea or process could be:
"Despite its disadvantages that causes it to not being the silver bullet, the theory of relativity (or perhaps quantam theory) is the best available one. In fact, it can be considered as (__canon____)."
I think that "stock" for objects fits better than "canon" does for ideas, but they fit the requirement for the given sentence; though with a different weight towards the two requirements of being inferior and yet also standard.
A 3rd phrase that may apply to both and I think does carry undertones of being less than superior while also being widely accepted as the standard would be "de facto".
Despite its disadvantages that causes it to not being the silver bullet, this method is the best available one. In fact, it can be considered as (__de facto____).
The bronze bullet. You're welcome.
I would suggest "Nominal", which isn't an idiom, but it means that something "works". NASA uses it: "systems nominal" which means they aren't necessarily working the best, but that they are working well enough.
...although it doesn't mean that it is not ideal.
Of course you could also say "good enough for government work." Which means it's not good, but it'll do.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/least-worst
So it's the least worst option.
Hobson's Choice is the term I would use here. I'm surprised it's not been mentioned thus far.
Another option you might consider is a hack. In engineering fields, particularly in computer programming, a hack is often used to mean a sub-optimal solution or quick fix that is not the best / canonical solution but works none the less.
Wiktionary defines it as
An expedient, temporary solution, meant to be replaced with a more elegant solution at a later date.
I think the OP is looking for:
The least bad choice.
Or μὴ χεῖρον βέλτιστον. Mḕ kheíron béltiston. The least bad [choice] is the best.
It doesn't quite fit the quoted text from the initial question:
Despite its disadvantages that causes it to not being the silver bullet, this method is the best available one. In fact, it can be considered as (______).
But the sentences could be reworked to be:
Despite its disadvantages that causes it to not being the silver bullet, this method is the best available one. It is the least bad choice of the options at hand.
I would suggest "the best compromise"
