Which side it happens to be is on entirely context-driven. If the object of "yak shaving" happens to be a mathematical proof, then the yak must be shaved. But if you have to get a system working within five minutes to stop your company losing ten million pounds, then the yak can remain unmolested.
Sometimes there's an easy way around. With the article's example, you buy an EzPass (or call the tolls-by-mail number & pay the extra fee for that vs EzPass). Then you don't need to borrow your neighbour's EzPass, or return the pillow, or restuff the pillow, or shave the yak. Likewise for many real systems, often one of the intermediate steps has a better alternative.
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Which side it happens to be is on entirely context-driven. If the object of "yak shaving" happens to be a mathematical proof, then the yak must be shaved. But if you have to get a system working within five minutes to stop your company losing ten million pounds, then the yak can remain unmolested.
Sometimes there's an easy way around. With the article's example, you buy an EzPass (or call the tolls-by-mail number & pay the extra fee for that vs EzPass). Then you don't need to borrow your neighbour's EzPass, or return the pillow, or restuff the pillow, or shave the yak. Likewise for many real systems, often one of the intermediate steps has a better alternative.