Source: https://infosec.exchange/@0xabad1dea/117485038136053872

transcript“It’s a poor worksman who blames his tools” has always been complete nonsense. No-one complains about imperfect tools faster and louder than a master. A master will yank a cheap or damaged tool out of your hand and yell at you for not blaming it yet

Cheap, lousy tools come from middle managers who don’t know how to do your job. Blame the hell out of poor tools and those who demand you use them

“It’s a poor worksman who blames his tools” has always been complete nonsense. No-one complains about imperfect tools faster and louder than a master. A master will yank a cheap or damaged tool out of your hand and yell at you for not blaming it yet   Cheap, lousy tools come from middle managers who don’t know how to do your job. Blame the hell out of poor tools and those who demand you use them
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[–] 14 points 3 hours ago (1 child)

This totally misses the point of the phrase. A master won't blame their tools, because they'll still make a wonderful piece even with shoddy tools. They'll complain about them though, which is distinct from blame.

An amateur doesn't have the skills needed to make a masterpiece, even if they have the best tools. They won't understand how to best make use of good tools, so they're only going to help so much in their hands.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 hours ago

    That's the point of the phrase, but it may also be a product of an earlier time when tools were not as widely available and varied in quality. It may not mean the same thing today.

    In a modern sense, a real master craftsman simply won't work with cheap, shoddy tools unless necessary. They will invest in the thing that let's them work. It's a tax write off anyway, it's worth the cost. You won't catch a world-renowned carpenter at Harbor Freight buying the cheapest just from the discount bin.

    If anything, while it means in one sense that a poor craftsman will blame shitty tools, because a good craftsman won't suffer shitty tools in the first place.

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