Before adopting a new tool, ask one question: will this still be around, and still work the same way, in ten years?
What usually passes
- Open file formats with a published specification.
- Standard protocols such as HTTP, SMTP, IMAP and SSH.
- Software with many independent implementations or a large, diverse community.
What usually fails
- Proprietary services with a single vendor and no export button.
- Free tiers that exist mainly to collect users before a pricing change.
- Formats that only one application can read.
The test is not always decisive — sometimes the convenient tool is worth it for a short project. But asking the question up front makes the trade-off explicit, and that alone prevents most of the painful migrations later.
Mira HoltEditor at Bet on Future
Writes about tools, habits and the quiet craft of keeping things running.
