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Comment by eudox | Hacker News Reader

I agree entirely, but at the same time, I think too often people make social rather than technical decisions. Lots of stars on GitHub and a well-designed website are usually indicative of a good project -- but people put too much faith on CSS, the same way they put too much faith on microbenchmarks taken in laboratory conditions.

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This -> people make social rather than technical decisions

Leo Meyerovich did a study on the social factors that affect language adoption[0]. Vivek Haldar has a highlights the salient points[1]. More info at his site: [2]

[0]: http://lmeyerov.github.io/projects/socioplt/papers/oopsla201...

[1]: http://blog.vivekhaldar.com/post/56972066006/empirical-analy...

[2]: http://lmeyerov.github.io/

I think too often people make social rather than technical decisions

Indeed. It's sad that as engineers (who theoretically espouse logic, reason, and evidence) we still end up making so many decisions based on herd behavior.

I would posit that engineers are human creatures rather than robots, and basing decisions on social factors is a natural part of being human.

For my anecdotal experience, apart from JS libs (where style over substance is frequently the norm) I find a well-designed website is usually a sign the project cares about its users, and is more likely to provide good documentation & a space to ask questions.

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