Why Should I Care What Color the Bikeshed Is?

The internet just rediscovered the classic “bikeshedding” rant—where people argue loudly about tiny, easy-to-understand stuff (like paint colors) while ignoring the hard, important work—and the comments are having a field day. Fans cheered the return of this evergreen lesson from Poul‑Henning Kamp’s FreeBSD FAQ and his saga, with one user giggling that it’s been posted “at least 10 times” over the years, while another dryly dropped a one-word reminder: “(1999)”. The vibe? Equal parts nostalgia and “please show this to my manager.” As a refresher, the essay says: the simpler the decision, the louder the noise—a rule many swear they see in every meeting.

But the drama got juicy when a commenter surfaced a rebuttal from Brett Glass—the programmer called out in the original piece—arguing that dismissing ideas as “bikeshedding” can be just as damaging as taking too many bad suggestions. That sparked a split: some want the term exported beyond tech because it names a universal office problem, while others warn it’s become a lazy shut‑down button for criticism. Meanwhile, the thread memed itself: old‑link bingo, “1999” mic drops, and proud confessions like “favorite term since I started coding.” Even ACM hosts Kamp’s column, The Bikeshed, because apparently we’ll be painting this shed forever—together, and very loudly.