holy wars

holy wars  [from {Usenet}, but may predate it]
   n. {flame war}s over {religious issues}.  The paper by Danny
   Cohen that popularized the terms {big-endian} and
   {little-endian} in connection with the LSB-first/MSB-first
   controversy was entitled "On Holy Wars and a Plea for Peace".
   Other perennial Holy Wars have included {EMACS} vs. {vi},
   my personal computer vs. everyone else's personal computer,
   {{ITS}} vs. {{UNIX}}, {{UNIX}} vs. {VMS}, {BSD} UNIX
   vs. {USG UNIX}, {C} vs. {{Pascal}}, {C} vs.
   FORTRAN, etc., ad nauseam.  The characteristic that distinguishes
   holy wars from normal technical disputes is that in a holy war
   most of the participants spend their time trying to pass off
   personal value choices and cultural attachments as objective
   technical evaluations.  See also {theology}.