> We can't even accurately estimate the cost of a complex project given our choice of tools, let alone talk about costs and ROI with different toolchains for th

> We can't even accurately estimate the cost of a complex project given our choice of tools, let alone talk about costs and ROI with different toolchains for the same projects. No industry can, unless it's something that has been done repeatedly before. If you ask a frontend designer specializing in WordPress to make a theme for WordPress and implement it, they can estimate it accurately. What is thoroughly missing from this debate is the age old project management terms of scope and risks. As soon as you enter unknown land, the risk goes up. And risk means uncertainty and probably expenses. And if the people writing the checks change the scope, the original estimates goes out the window. If you're making a building, it's easier to understand that you cannot just change the scope after the blueprint is made. You have to get an architect to remake it, and everything done and ordered so far may or may not be salvageable. It happens in all industries, but just more so in software development.