Re:Bitcoin has computed 2^83.9 hashes
by jnbiche on Tuesday January 26, 2016 @04:22PM
(#10976190)
I agree that Bitcoin's energy costs risk becoming ridiculously high, but general IT energy expenditures are currently 10% of the world's total, eclipsing aviation [1].
Bearing this in mind, using things like PHP, Python and Ruby to build massive web services also seems massively wasteful to me. I'm quite sure that compared to a lower level language like Go or C++, those languages use up an order of magnitude more energy. The energy difference between those two language groups almost certainly exceeds Bitcoin's total energy usage right now, and I don't see people moaning about this.
I mean, build your prototype using one of those languages, but once you starting building a significant audience, switch over to C++, Go, or Rust, and use a fraction of the energy you use with Python or Ruby.
Re:Bitcoin has computed 2^83.9 hashes
by Latty on Tuesday January 26, 2016 @06:21PM
(#10977029)
It'd be cheaper to generate the energy cleanly than to spend the cost (development, opportunity, etc...) of developing such things in a lower level language, I'd imagine.
Bearing this in mind, using things like PHP, Python and Ruby to build massive web services also seems massively wasteful to me. I'm quite sure that compared to a lower level language like Go or C++, those languages use up an order of magnitude more energy. The energy difference between those two language groups almost certainly exceeds Bitcoin's total energy usage right now, and I don't see people moaning about this.
I mean, build your prototype using one of those languages, but once you starting building a significant audience, switch over to C++, Go, or Rust, and use a fraction of the energy you use with Python or Ruby.
1. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/16/it_electricity_use_w...