No, not 'exactly': growing tomatoes outdoors is clearly far easier in the South of France than in most of the UK, where less than 'ideal' strategies sometimes have to be deployed.
Make your mind up bud! In the previous post you are saying
"I think a reasonable conclusion from this discussion is that tomatoes are more tolerant of irregular watering when grown outdoors than indoors, and possibly produce better flavoured tomatoes too.
In this country at least the main concern is the threat of blight, which changes the whole equation for many. "
I agree with you then you tell me no not exactly? Where the tomatoes are grown is irrelevant people grow tomatoes under cover down here too to avoid blight and, as you have rightly pointed out, they are far less tolerant of irregular watering.
You are correct in the first instance. Tomatoes grown in the open ground are more tolerant for the simple reason that in an indoor situation the conditions can change very rapidly and water reserves in the soil being used can change very quickly due to that. Tomatoes grown outdoors are far more tolerant because the soil has huge reserves of water... even in a dry spell.