TWiR quote of the week

People argue about the color of a bike shed because even though it's a meaningless decision - it's still a decision that has to be made. The null choice is a very bad choice - if you don't paint the shed it'll rust. And there is no "default color" so you can't just say "just color it" - you have to pick a color.

Even seen someone argue about the pattern of the shed's paint? No. The pattern is not any more meaningful than the color, but unlike the color - there is a null choice. There is a default. Solid paint. And because there is a default, no one even thinks about using something else because why are you wasting company time and money on a pattern for a bike shed?

From my personal experience, when there is a default and the default is good enough, nobody bikesheds how to derive from the default. They only discuss it when there is a concrete problem with the default, where is doesn't fit your needs for whatever reason. And when you do have a concrete reason to derive from the default - you will derive from the default. Because you have to. And if the library does not support it - you'll switch the library.

-- /u/somebodddy on when opinionated design succeeds or fails to prevent bikeshedding

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