This may be controversial. I think this phrase is very misunderstood. As a former craftsman I think the real meaning was more to do with how a real craftsman only has good tools and maintains them properly. They can't blame their tools, because they are beyond reproach.
I've seen amazing work come from very simple/inexpensive tools, or even inappropriate tools, and crappy work come from very good tools.
The poor craftsman says "my works sucks because the tools suck", while the good craftsman learns to use what they have.
No, he goes out and gets new ones or fixes/builds them himself. That's how I always understood the saying; the emphasis is on the word "blame" not the word "tool". It's about people who sit around and complain rather than taking action to fix the problem. It doesn't mean you should put up with shitty tools.
The other adage that goes in concert with craftspeople shouldn't be blaming their tools is that, "true artists work within the limits of the medium".
- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/a_bad_workman_always_blames_h... - https://poemanalysis.com/proverb/a-bad-workman-blames-his-to... - https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/a+poor+craftsman+blames... - https://usdictionary.com/idioms/a-bad-workman-blames-his-too... - https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/a-bad-workman-...
His interpretation is similar to mine, higher up this thread. It is therefore far from unique.
I think it is also not at all unique for scholars to hear a saying and assume a meaning from it, and because they wrote it down on wiktionary it becomes the 'official version'. Whereas my version came from working with other tradesmen for a decade...non of whom were scholars, but were the owners of the culture.
I always interpreted it as "a good craftman understands fundamentals". Photoshop can't save a bad artist. but a good artist can work without PS, even if it costs efficiency.
can doesn't mean they will, though.
Relating back to software as tools, this only works if you have access to the tool code.
There's a huge difference in steel quality among chisels/cutting tools. Anyone can sharpen a $2 chisel so it cuts nicely once, but a $50 chisel will hold its edge longer and cut nicely hundreds of times.
There's only so much maintenance you can do on a bad tool.