Choose Boring Technology by Dan McKinley
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 6 of 60 articles by recommenders
Widely shared essay urging teams to favor proven technology, with the 'innovation tokens' idea praised for guiding choices. Critics say the slogan can shut down debate about flawed old tools.
Widely shared essay urging teams to favor proven technology, with the 'innovation tokens' idea praised for guiding choices. Critics say the slogan can shut down debate about flawed old tools.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Long-time favorite, useful over years
“It is one of the most useful concepts I have had as a PM / eng leader in my career.”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Choose Boring Technology (2015)” “I've found it extremely useful over the years, personally.”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Choose Boring Technology (2015)” “still one of my favorite essays on software architecture”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “Lessons from 14 Years at Google” - Comment from 13 Sep 2026 in “Why are AI agents lying, cheating and coordinating?”
Useful for communicating tradeoffs
“This was a refreshing blog and presentation that provided a way to communicate to people boring is better, and to ship product.”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Choose Boring Technology (2015)” “It's clearly useful as a communication tool.”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Choose Boring Technology (2015)” Innovation tokens concept
“This is one of my favorite blog posts, and it can basically be encapsulated in the idea of "innovation tokens."”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Choose Boring Technology (2015)” “innovation tokens is a neat idea”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Choose Boring Technology (2015)” Guards against resume-driven development
“Am I using this project as an excuse to learn some new technology, or am I trying to solve a problem?”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “The newest Instagram "exploit" is the goofiest I've seen” “I see innovation as a guardrail against CV driven development.”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Choose Boring Technology (2015)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Slogan shuts down discussion
“it seems to be used in a way that shuts down discussion of how some "boring" technology is fundamentally defective”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Choose Boring Technology (2015)” “it created a thought terminating slogan that was used to justify choices that were bad for developer ergonomics”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Choose Boring Technology (2015)” “Then "boring" is useless and you should just say”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “Choose Boring Technology (2015)”
Other articles people recommend
The four most recommended other articles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Programming as Theory Buildingby Peter Naur | 32 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Ur-Fascismby Umberto Eco | 18 | 2 | 90% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Politics and the English Languageby George Orwell | 14 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| The Grug Brained Developer by Carson Gross | 13 | 1 | 93% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Choose Boring Technology by Dan McKinleyThis page | 11 | 3 | 79% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
15 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“philosophy I've come to love”
“it created a thought terminating slogan that was used to justify choices that were bad for developer ergonomics”
“This was a refreshing blog and presentation that provided a way to communicate to people boring is better, and to ship product.”
“innovation tokens is a neat idea”
“it seems to be used in a way that shuts down discussion of how some "boring" technology is fundamentally defective”
“It's clearly useful as a communication tool.”
“I've found it extremely useful over the years, personally.”
“Then "boring" is useless and you should just say”
“I see innovation as a guardrail against CV driven development.”
“I dislike the arbitrary "innovation tokens" and I think this entire concept really blurs the lines and feels sort of unserious.”
“This is one of my favorite blog posts, and it can basically be encapsulated in the idea of "innovation tokens."”
“It is one of the most useful concepts I have had as a PM / eng leader in my career.”
“Am I using this project as an excuse to learn some new technology, or am I trying to solve a problem?”
“The essay Choose Boring Technology covers some of this ground.”
“still one of my favorite essays on software architecture”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.