Have noted this 'opinionated' trend going for quite a while, so this comment isn't about this article in particular, but can someone break down why an opinionated guide to something technical would be preferable to an impartial one? The only thing it seems to imply is that bias adds value in its own right.
It's a pre-emptive disclaimer "I know this isn't objective, don't complain about that". And it tells you that the guide isn't going to offer you confusing choices, it's going to tell you one way to do things. For some people that's an advantage.
Thanks for your reply lmm. I can see what you mean. However, I do think it has a high risk of building new dogmas without the understanding of when these dogmas should be broken.
I see value in educated opinions. For instance a while back I was trying to figure out how to make a web app in Python (keep in mind that, while I can program, I have zero knowledge about web things). This is what I saw: https://wiki.python.org/moin/WebFrameworks
Which framework is the best? Why are there so many? Which is the easiest for my specific goals? An opinionated guide that said something like "Use Flask because X" or "Use Django because Y" would have been pretty useful.
Beginners guides are a special case, the main focus is in getting something working with the minimum of fuss that you can understand. I do understand that expert opinions can help build confidence, but perhaps it's even better to explain matters clearly so you can make your own opinions.
