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Comment by jakevn | Hacker News Reader

It's not considered cheating for the Language Benchmarks Game, seeing as it's just a game, but it would probably be considered cheating for a benchmark attempting to compare performance for "realistic" programs.

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>>it's just a game<<

http://benchmarksgame.alioth.debian.org/sometimes-people-jus...

>>"realistic" programs<<

For example?

"The performance of a benchmark, even if it is derived from a real program, may not help to predict the performance of similar programs that have different hot spots."

http://benchmarksgame.alioth.debian.org/dont-jump-to-conclus...

This sort of querulous point-sniping mainly persuades me that the criticisms are entirely valid. So if you're looking to make people think that the Benchmarks Game has some real-world utility, you might want to try a different approach.

To be persuaded on such grounds is unfortunate, when relevant information is before you.

I'll give you points for consistency. But enough relevant information is already before me. With tens of millions of websites, I have no obligation to look carefully at each one to decide it's not for me.

You have no obligation to persuade yourself "that the criticisms are entirely valid" without seeing what's being discussed.

Yes, exactly. In the same way that if I see bad Yelp reviews and the business owner responds poorly, I think there's no need to go by for a sandwich just to be sure.

Is it pointing to the FAQ that you consider "responds poorly", or is it pointing to Veedrac's refusal to be unambiguous?

Maybe it is refusing to listen to people while presenting false binary choices that exclude the actual concerns.

That is a general accusation. It does not include any specific reference that would allow it to be understood or answered. Not helpful.

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