It is SO STUPID that spaces are widely preferred for indentation in code.
For the past, I don’t know, two hours I’ve been trying to fix YAML formatting issues that could have been fixed without any human intervention if only tabs were used. (It’s a big file, hence the duration.) (I know YAML doesn’t support tabs. That’s kind of my point.)
I even reluctantly asked Gemini (forced upon me by work; I was hoping it would change my mind in this case) why anyone would prefer spaces. It said the same irrelevant thing most people say: because some tools don’t support tabs properly.
Know what that sounds like to me? A problem with the fucking tool.
I don’t know if this is the right place to post this, but I can’t think of a better option.
The good reason I’ve heard is because it’s consistent. Tabs can change length depending on what’s displaying it (this is both a feature and an issue). Spaces will mostly be consistent.
However, you say the issue is with the tool, and I agree, but in a more complex way. A good tool won’t really care which you use. A good tool can interpret them identically and adjust the display to your preference. Bad tools are why people will have a preference for one or the other, and the above is the good argument for (and also against) spaces instead of tabs.