Hackaday: It was probably Montesquieu who coined the proto-hacker motto “the best is the mortal enemy of the good”. He was talking about compromises in drafting national constitutions for nascent democracies, of course, but I’ll admit that I do hear his voice when I’m in get-it-done mode and start cutting corners on a project. A working project is better than a gold-plated one.
I am going to be so honest. I have no idea what this article was actually about. It started talking about how perfection can be the enemy of good, which is a common thing. However, it ended up talking about the authors coffee roaster and how he rigged with a fan that he had to manually turn on, and how maybe a new fan would be better. It doesn't seem like they actually had much to say about the idea of perfect being the enemy of good. Frankly, I personally think that they are two related ideas, but that they are not particularly mutually exclusive. I am reminded of a quote I recently heard "Perfection is impossible, but why would you strive for anything less?" I like this idea because it simultaneously acknowledges the fact that we are all human, and that nothing is perfect. However, it also motivates you to do your best, and try for perfection because you'll probably at least do good.
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