The tabs vs. spaces debate has to be one of the biggest wastes of time in all of programming. Not to be uncivil but it's a bit depressing to see human creativity lavished on it once again.
One of the first things I do when starting a new project is to adopt a code formatting standard enforced by automated tools like Eclipse formatting for Java or Pep8 for Python, then move on. I really don't care what the format is as long as it's consistent and readable, hence usually let the team decide in return for adhering to the choice. And I've stopped working with teams that cannot get past obsession over tabs vs. spaces. It's a warning signal that there's an unhealthy lack of focus on things that really matter to users like clean interfaces.
One of the first things I do when starting a new project is to adopt a code formatting standard enforced by automated tools like Eclipse formatting for Java or Pep8 for Python, then move on. I really don't care what the format is as long as it's consistent and readable, hence usually let the team decide in return for adhering to the choice. And I've stopped working with teams that cannot get past obsession over tabs vs. spaces. It's a warning signal that there's an unhealthy lack of focus on things that really matter to users like clean interfaces.
Edit: typo