I think this needs a catchy name.
It's not a new problem in software, and it's not unique to software.
A lot of hobby woodworkers, for instance, spend most of their woodworking effort on their new woodshop. Building a workbench, building shelves and cabinets and special holders for all their drill bits, mortising chisels and tools, special tables for their miter saw, a special cabinet connected to their dust collection system for sanding small pieces...
Likewise, the favorite project for programmers is ... programming tools. New languages, new libraries, new editors. We've gone through like six version control systems at my day job.
There is some merit in this, since new tools make you more efficient at building more new tools, but eventually you have to step back and remind yourself what your actual goals are.
I call it the tool maker's dilemma, but that's not nearly as catchy or easy to fit into conversation as bikeshedding.
It's not a new problem in software, and it's not unique to software.
A lot of hobby woodworkers, for instance, spend most of their woodworking effort on their new woodshop. Building a workbench, building shelves and cabinets and special holders for all their drill bits, mortising chisels and tools, special tables for their miter saw, a special cabinet connected to their dust collection system for sanding small pieces...
Likewise, the favorite project for programmers is ... programming tools. New languages, new libraries, new editors. We've gone through like six version control systems at my day job.
There is some merit in this, since new tools make you more efficient at building more new tools, but eventually you have to step back and remind yourself what your actual goals are.
I call it the tool maker's dilemma, but that's not nearly as catchy or easy to fit into conversation as bikeshedding.