The average one lasts maybe 3 re-pottings or so before they start to disintegrate. They obviously have a limited lifetime, but it can be quite good still. Drilling holes in buckets would not match all of the pros I mentioned, but certainly some of them to some extent. Of course you might start to leak soil everywhere to, or crack the pots. I can also imagine that watering would be a bit more messy.
Nice! I bought "Smart Pots" for all my plants which did end up costing... probably too much. The things you do out of (hot pepper) love. It was certainly more than what you paid. Good deal; I hope you get as satisfied with the fabric life as I am!
