Glossary

Plain-language definitions of the terms this bundle uses. It grows as the bundle does.

• Decision guide — a page that helps you make one recurring, consequential decision: the options, the criteria, the tradeoffs, and when each choice wins.
• Criteria — the handful of factors that should actually drive the decision, as opposed to everything you could consider.
• Tradeoff — what you give up by choosing one option over another; the guides cite the evidence behind the important ones.
• When each wins — the conditions under which a given option is the better call, written as plain "if your situation is X, lean toward Y."
• Reversibility — how cheaply you can undo a choice if it turns out wrong; cheap-to-reverse decisions deserve less deliberation.
• Total cost of ownership (TCO) — the full lifetime cost of an option, not just the upfront price — including maintenance, support, and the cost of your own time.