[alinajaf]

I may be a rare case, but I honestly started using git and vim in particular long before the heaps of hype that built up around the tools, before I even started reading HN actually.

I found the tools I went with to be more intuitive and easier to learn than the others. When tools are legitimately pleasurable to use, developers talk about them, and 'hype' builds up.

[rphlx]

The hype then attracts the next generation of users and perpetuates the trend. Most users are pulled in by the hype, rather than the rational decision making of the early adopters.