It sounds like they didn’t understand your goals. If your goal was to write some software or to learn something, then your approach was sensible. If your goal

It sounds like they didn’t understand your goals. If your goal was to write some software or to learn something, then your approach was sensible. If your goal had been to use a tool to accomplish XYZ efficiently, then their approach was sensible. Most people - even software developers - are perfectly happy using software other people wrote or hosted. This allows them to do other things with their time that they find more enjoyable or higher leverage. There’s nothing wrong with the choice you made as long as you’re aware of the reasons you made it.