[hn_throwaway_99]

My argument against this is that I have never, ever seen a tabbed code base where if you changed the original tab size of the author the code didn't end up looking like total shit, usually because of next-line alignment issues.

IIRC the original Sun Java source used an 8-space tab width, and looking at it with a 4-space width made it much more difficult to read.

[pvinis]

I don't know why I can't downvote you so I need to reply.

This probably happens because there are tabs used for alignment too. Like many many many people have said, tabs are for indentation, spaces are for alignment. When people advocate for tabs, they understand their meaning, and they also use spaces for alignment. If someone uses tabs for everything always forever everywhere, they might as well just use only spaces.

[dTal]

>I don't know why I can't downvote you so I need to reply.

Because you can't downvote posts more than 24 hours old.

I'm not sure why you'd want to downvote that post anyway; it made a reasonable point in a polite way. Replying is better than downvoting unless the original post made an egregious sin.

[pvinis]

I consider a downvote as a disagreement with no further comment. But I understand what you're saying.