

Foamy Rules for Tools - Corrado
http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2009/11/02/the_foamy_rules_for_rabid_tools.html

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Corrado
I've had my own brush with this concept but from the other side of the table.
We were talking about tools at work (IDEs, languages, virtual machines, etc.)
and came to the conclusion that it would be best if everyone used the exact
same setup. This would make it easy to transition new people to the team, make
updates easier, and if anyone had a problem there were a lot of people that
probably had that problem and could help resolve it for everyone.

After thinking about it a bit (and reading this article) I think I have
changed my mind. Actually, I think I already knew this was my viewpoint, I was
just too blind to listen to my inner voice. I _am_ foamy about my tools
(Sublime Text 2 ROCKS!) and I'm pretty sure that everyone else is too. But you
have a different set of tools and I'm _not_ foamy about your choices, and I
never will be. Even if you force me to use them.

Some things make sense to standardize (languages, version control systems,
etc.) but some things are very personal and, in the end don't really affect
the output. IDEs / editors jump to mind as something that are heavily
personalized yet don't really affect the code in any meaningful way. We all
aren't forced to use the same hardware (keyboards, pointing devices,
headphones, pen, paper, etc.) so why force software down our throat?

