[0xf8]

I mean, for most mature ecosystems / technology stacks I think the “no one size fits all, just strategic design trade-offs” theory largely holds true as an objectively accurate account of the “choosing the best tool“ situation ….

but IMO, I think it’s worth noting that occasionally, some rare unique and functionally superlative technology comes along that in practice transcends every alternative from the onset and indefinitely going forwards, sometimes even at a more prominent scale than the MySQL / Postgres projects topic of discussion (which are not small by any means).

something maybe like Git, most immediately comes to mind, as an example of the de-facto standard for distributed VCS basically since … 2005* when Linus decided to create it?

edit: not 1995

[erhaetherth]

> something maybe like Git, most immediately comes to mind, as an example of the de-facto standard for distributed VCS basically since … 1995 when Linus decided to create it?

hot take. might be the most popular, maybe even by a large margin, but I think you'll find a good chunk of people who have actually tried different VCSs don't think it's the best.

[0xf8]

Yah, I think that’s probably true. But that’s also hard to reconcile with the reality of the adoption trending consistently away from any alternative and only towards Git. And “large margins” are indeed pretty objectively the case (from the largest developer surveys the breakdown 10 years ago was like 70% Git to everything, growing to ~95% in 2022). Usually the phenomenon you’re describing, leads to other alternatives becoming more popular not less (even if the most popular standard continues to eclipse the field. Here is would seem these highly likable alternatives for those who took the plunge are nevertheless dwindling into irrelevance…

I suspect the die-hard proponents of Mercurial, or SVN, or whatever else, these few pagan heretics that might exist out there wherever they’re hiding, have found themselves in a camp different to the Git standard likely on the basis of electing to be intentionally contrarian / anti-normative as the general catalyst, and rather not, as a function of struggling with Git to the point of being so disillusioned they call it quits and head out looking for greener pastures. I think in practice the most common result of encountering problems with Git is, fix the problems. And functionally I think that’s resulted only in furthering it’s supremacy over alternatives, despite there existing a handful of cultish weirdos who are _really_ into Mercurial and prefer not to fux with Git as a personal lifestyle choice haha)