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Be Aware of the Makefile Effect

(blog.yossarian.net)
431 points thunderbong | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.214s | source
1. 0xbadcafebee ◴[] No.42671526[source]
So, it's the tool's fault that the user chose it, and it's the tool's fault the user never learned how it works?

This is like taking a hike up a rocky hill because the trailhead had a smooth path, later tripping over a rock, and then blaming the rock.

I'd redefine the Makefile (or YAML, Bash, etc) effect as:

  Tools that are easy enough that people try to use them
  without learning how they work first, and hard enough that
  people later blame the tool when they crash into their
  own ignorance.