"In defense of the stuff we did create from scratch, I would also offer that if nobody ever created anything new, we'd still
be using rocks to bash our grain to make flat bread."
Known as the "it's new, therefore it must be better" argument. Sorry, not a sound engineering argument.
"The folks here are without reserve the smartest people I've ever had
the pleasure of working with,"
Again, says nothing about the quality of their work. Might simply mean you're socially impoverished. And even smart people have built amazingly stupid software at times.
These are hand-waving arguments. And you wonder why I'm suspicious that nothing other than religious conviction underlies your devotion to this approach?
"I respect your decision to stand on the shoulders of giants"
Newton was being sarcastic when he made his oft-misunderstood statement...
