My point is very simple: operating costs are relative. But you didn't ask the relative question, you asked the absolute question ("what suggests GitHub has a huge operating cost?"). Reasonable people will differ on how to evaluate the answer to that. For example, to a wealthy person, $100 might not be a lot of money. To a poor person, that is a lot of money.
You yourself said: “Absolute numbers aren’t useful in this analysis.”
So perhaps you meant to ask a different question all along.
My point is very simple: operating costs are relative. But you didn't ask the relative question, you asked the absolute question ("what suggests GitHub has a huge operating cost?"). Reasonable people will differ on how to evaluate the answer to that. For example, to a wealthy person, $100 might not be a lot of money. To a poor person, that is a lot of money.
You yourself said: “Absolute numbers aren’t useful in this analysis.”
So perhaps you meant to ask a different question all along.