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by nkurz 3803 days ago
His argument is basically even if unikernels are faster and even if they are just as secure, they are still operationally broken because you cannot debug them.

I personally agree that this would be a stronger argument, but unfortunately it's not the argument he's making. Instead, he's "pleading in the alternative", which is less logical, but can in some situations can be more effective. The classic example is from a legendary defense lawyer nicknamed "Racehorse" Haynes:

“Say you sue me because you say my dog bit you,” he told the audience. “Well, now this is my defense: My dog doesn’t bite. And second, in the alternative, my dog was tied up that night. And third, I don’t believe you really got bit.” His final defense, he said, would be: “I don’t have a dog.”

It maps excellently: "As everyone knows, unikernels never have a performance advantage. And even when they are faster, they are always terribly insecure. And even after people solve the security nightmare, they're still impossible to debug. But what's the point in spending time talking about something that doesn't even exist!"

http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/richard_racehorse...

1 comments

The Racehorse example isn't the best example of arguing in the alternative, because the first three "alternatives" are fully compatible with one another; you could easily argue that all three were true. The real alternative branch is "my dog doesn't bite, and in the alternative, I don't have a dog".