I just want to work with someone who can clearly articulate why they chose tabs or spaces (in this example), not someone who gives a blank stare. E.g I want someone with their own tastes.
I agree fully with this. I was on a project once and the manager leading it would tell me to do things I thought were in pour taste. I gave him a list of reasons why I thought a different direction would be better. He couldn’t backup his opinions at all, but thought he was right based on his title. Eventually he got sick of fighting with me and installed a PM to deliver his baseless and tasteless opinions. That PM said he thought my design was better, but his job was to be the mouthpiece for the manager to push the worse design. He didn’t have any power, so me pushing back on what he said was a waste of breath.
People with strong opinions, who can’t back them up with reasons why they hold them, is a huge pet peeve of mine. This project was the most clear example of that.
With the above scenario, I eventually just made what he wanted, then secretly made what I wanted as well. This was an internal product. I told a few people about my secret page. Over the next couple months, 100% of the team was using my secret page and no one wanted to use the manager’s design. Once he was no longer paying attention to the project, I swapped out my secret page for the main page and it’s been that way ever since.
If taste is being learned, who is the teacher? Are you learning about your own tastes or adopting the tastes of the teacher?
Who has better taste, the user of spaces or tabs? There is no right answer, just those who agree with you and those who don’t.