You could also just limit a query to max N seconds, and abort it if so. I don't think "marketplace of algorithms" necessarily mean people need to be able to ma

You could also just limit a query to max N seconds, and abort it if so. I don't think "marketplace of algorithms" necessarily mean people need to be able to make arbitrary database queries either, but seems besides the point. Having their own DSL for sorting timelines can also solve that problem nicely and within whatever performance requirements they would end up with.