I agree. Still using Visual Studio all these years. With regards to technology or language, I’m still using C# (although I want to start learning F#).

This is a very insightful essay. I have an example outside of IT.

My friend recently was assembling a custom bicycle, and he was defending his choice of beautiful, expensive handcrafted break handles as if they were the best out there performance-wise and the most pragmatic choice possible.

It was obvious to everyone, seemingly except him, that it’s by far not a rational choice, and he chose them because they are aesthetically pleasing, and he wanted to support the talented independent maker. However, “I am rational and pragmatic” is an important part of his identity, and it wouldn’t allow to just admit that and say “I chose X because I like X” and would always demand a justification.

I agree, partly because he didn’t call Vim obscure.