For anyone curious about the difference, tldr > Levers let you move things, but if you are holding something up with a lever, you have to keep holding it — for

For anyone curious about the difference, tldr > Levers let you move things, but if you are holding something up with a lever, you have to keep holding it — forever. A ratchet lets you drive forward motion without slipping back as soon as you let up on the pressure. The ratchet is the promise of literally every tool. The lever is the cold hard reality of every tool. Human beings are required to maintain, fund, update, and use the systems in question. Which means letting up on the pressure will quickly land you in the dustbin of history. Remember Google Wave? Yeah, nobody else does either.