Resource Allocation Fallacy and Mis-interpretation of Purpose [LWN.net]

Resource Allocation Fallacy and Mis-interpretation of Purpose

Posted Nov 30, 2008 7:10 UTC (Sun) by AnswerGuy (guest, #1256)
In reply to: Linux boots on the iPhone by ssam
Parent article: Linux boots on the iPhone

This comment exhibits two fallacies.

"if you want to run linux on a phone"[sic] ... assumes a goal (on the part of the developers). What if the goal of these developers is to demonstrate that they are up to the challenge presented by Apple ... to show that some people will overcome the deliberate impediments to alternatives that companies like Apple place in their way? Putting their effort into a more open platform wouldn't serve that purpose at all.

The other fallacy is one we commonly hear in the open source is that the time some (usually smaller) group of people spends on some alternative project (whichever project the commentator thinks of as unworthy of the effort) is somehow "wasted."

This has always boomed with the arrogance of ignorance to me. Who are these people, on the sidelines, to declare how anyone else should use (or "waste") their time.

JimD

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Resource Allocation Fallacy and Mis-interpretation of Purpose

Posted Nov 30, 2008 16:15 UTC (Sun) by clump (subscriber, #27801) [Link]

Well said. It is as if coding is a zero sum game, where people can only work on one thing at a time. The same criticism has been leveled against people that code (and run) Linux on non-x86 platforms.

The OpenWRT project, the NSLU2-Linux project, and others have created immensely useful work. Because of the latter, I have a completely fanless machine that runs all kinds of services that was had for less than $40.

There are plenty of other examples.

Resource Allocation Fallacy and Mis-interpretation of Purpose

Posted Nov 30, 2008 22:10 UTC (Sun) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

Well, technically you can't actually work on more than one thing at the
same actual instant.

However, the argument is still fallacious: nobody complains because
hackers spend some time sleeping, or eating, or reading, or going on
holiday, but those activities too take time from coding. So if you're
going to complain about time spent on rare architectures or yet another
wheel, complain first about time spent sleeping which could be spent
writing code. (You don't need to sleep *that* much, do you? Just one hour
off... then another one...)

Resource Allocation Fallacy and Mis-interpretation of Purpose

Posted Dec 1, 2008 19:17 UTC (Mon) by RobertBrockway (guest, #48927) [Link]

Some very good comments. It is their time and they may spend it how they wish. Some other important points:

1. They may learn something from the apparently pointless task that they may not have otherwise learnt. These new found skills may be useful in other projects.

2. Code they develop may well help other projects solve problems too. Not all code on a closed platform is going to pertain to closed interfaces.

3. Humans actually perform _better_ if they take a break from their regular tasks. Going on holiday is good for you, and working on a side project can be a good diversion too.