Nothing is black or white on a foggy day

Sometimes people write to me or post questions on the blog along the lines of "I'm new to data warehouses, which xxxx is best?" where xxxx could be tool, database, hardware platform, design methodology, in fact, xxxx could be almost anything.

Well, nothing is clear-cut, the fact that choices are available and people continue to make these same choices indicates to me that there is no such thing as the single right way. What is right for one set of circumstances could be completely wrong in another.

And for that matter, what is right or wrong? The choice made is almost always a compromise; a complex balance between what is technically feasible and what is affordable, what is actually needed and what is desired.

So, if receive questions I try to give a balanced viewpoint, I might say that this or that worked for me but of course my circumstances are different and what works for me might be wrong for you. I still have opinions though, but they show up in other writings.