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I believe that is what he meant by "all other things being equal". They are equal in library availability, speed, etc.

Which is literally never the case, so kind of a moot point.

Wasn't he just trying to isolate the variables?

Yes, but if you control for the variables that make the most difference then you do the hypothetical a disservice.

It's like saying that, all response times being equal, it is a fast application server.

What does that really tell you?