[b20000]

I worked on a project where I used a Google framework that used bazel and it was a terrible experience, even though in the end I made it work. My first approach was to integrate the framework somehow into the build process I was used to (Makefiles, cmake etc), but then quickly found out this was going to be nearly impossible due to the way bazel works, so in the end I had to use bazel to build my project and to be able to add the framework as a dependency. I still had to hack into the framework bazel tree here and there. I lost a lot of time learning the quirks of bazel and in the end it contributed absolutely nothing and instead of bazel, cmake could have been used, a solution most people are familiar with. I think Googlers are generally on some kind of quest where they need to prove how smart they are by inventing all kinds of quirky weird new kind of "wheels" instead of using existing wheels to build a car, which causes problems for people who do not work at Google but are somehow forced to use Google's solutions. I am wondering if Googlers are aware of the fact that by using/inventing these kind of solutions their skill set becomes so specific they can't leave Google anymore.