A Measure of Code's Value
As a software engineer and startup founder, I often ask: what makes software valuable? Code has no intrinsic value - its worth is entirely contextual. For instance, x = a + b isn’t inherently more valuable than x = a * b. However, we can measure its extrinsic value: how often the software runs. Or, put more formally: Number of times the software is run per unit time By this measure, Windows is far more valuable than macOS. And the Linux kernel, which powers the majority of web servers and every single Android device, might be the most valuable of all. ...