[wvenable]

> It's like people are out there riding horses while others are driving past in their cars.

This is a good analogy but in software development, as in life, there are roads and there are trails. Some developers try and drive their car on the trail and their horse on the road! But sometimes you need a horse and face already solved problems because your environment requires it (e.g. using C for embedded development).

> So many people adopt these tribalistic mindsets when discussing their preferred technologies rather than allowing themselves to be open to better ideas.

The problem is there is always a better idea. You have to strike a balance between being open to new ideas and just getting the job done. But there is definitely tribalism because that is human nature; You earn your way into a technology and community through pain and suffering so you become attached to it. Maybe some people can avoid that but I believe it's pretty hard. Especially when the differences between technologies are mostly cultural. You're less likely to be tribal when considering C vs. Ruby but perhaps more so when faced with Ruby vs. Python.