**Parent Topic**: [[Software/README]] ## Tool Wars Are a Distraction Tooling is among the most religiously argued topics in computing — vi versus Emacs, Subversion versus Git, Java versus PHP. Schlossnagle dismisses these as "nonsensical religious wars." People succeed with tools *despite* their pros and cons. Quoting Emerson — "All the tools and engines on Earth are only extensions of man's limbs and senses" — he insists a tool does not the master craftsman make. ## Choose by Fitness, Wield by Practice Two rules follow. First, choose a tool by its appropriateness to the problem, not personal preference: FreeBSD ran superb release management for years on the "antiquated" CVS, and robust architectures have been built on feature-poor PHP. Second, your tools must become extensions of your limbs — reading the documentation for the first time *during* a crisis is not the best use of your time. ## Connection The fitness-over-preference principle is one leg of [[Four Pursuits of Operational Mastery]]; knowing tools under normal conditions first is the substance of [[Baseline Before Crisis Diagnosis]]. --- *Source: [[Web Operations]] (Allspaw & Robbins, O'Reilly 2010) — Ch 1 — Web Operations: The Career*