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We just lost a giant. Hard to imagine someone more black bar worthy for Hacker News, hope we have one up soon.

by _pius 11y ago

krapp 11y ago
I hope not. The black bar has become a meaningless exercise in political posturing. Edit: allow me to clarify - just having to choose whether or not someone is "black bar worthy" is distasteful. Ian Murdock didn't get a black bar that I can recall, and I don't remember seeing one since then, even though other people relevant to the community have died. Are we to expect someone to change the color of the bar every time a death in the tech community occurs, and how to we judge relevance in that regard? No, it's an arbitrary gesture that doesn't really honor anything or anyone. It just gives people something to argue about. Why did someone get a black bar and someone else didn't? Why was this person deserving of it, and not that person? It's best to just remove it altogether.
- euske 11y ago
  Just want to speak up and say that your comment is actually very sensible, and it's terrifying to see it's downvoted.
- tlrobinson 11y ago
  Out of curiosity, does anyone have a list of people who HN has enabled the black bar for?
  - tlrobinson 11y ago
    I went ahead and compiled a list of "black bar" memorials from what I could remember and a little bit of searching. (It's probably not comprehensive, but it's clearly composed of computing luminaries and members of the YC community) Dan Haubert (1984 - 2009) Robert Morris (1932 - 2011) John McCarthy (1927 - 2011) Dennis Ritchie (1941 - 2011) Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011) Doug Engelbart (1925 - 2013) Aaron Swartz (1986 - 2013) Gene Amdahl (1922 - 2015) Marvin Minsky (1927 - 2016)
- mikeash 11y ago
  I thought the black bar was done by the people who run the site, and "we" don't judge it at all. In which case, it's a personal decision to honor someone they care about by placing a subtle notice on ther site, which happens to be popular. It's no different in spirit to the thousands of tribute blog posts being written as I type this. I find it extremely distasteful to criticize how someone chooses to honor the dead. As long as they're not doing it by shooting guns into the air or hosting a destructive party next to your house or something like that, what do you care?
  - krapp 11y ago
    "We" certainly do judge, even if that judgement has no practical value. People do act as if it's up for debate. Whenever we decide one death is worthy of it and ignore others, or get into petty arguments if it doesn't appear fast enough, or for the right person. An expectation builds which, if not properly catered to, leads to insult and animosity. And given that it's Hacker News, sometimes suspicion and paranoia. It certainly is within the site owners' right to do whatever they like, but for the community it's becoming a spectacle. Although obviously, as the bar is up right now, my opinion on the matter isn't going to prevail.
    - mikeash 11y ago
      I'd say the solution here is not to end the black bars, but to end the petty disputes by being more civilized in the discussions. Perhaps that's too much to ask, but we should give it a shot.
      - dang 11y ago
        Thank you.
        JupiterMoon 11y ago
        Why?
        11y ago

We just lost a giant. Hard to imagine someone more black bar worthy for Hacker News, hope we have one up soon.

by _pius 11y ago

We just lost a giant. Hard to imagine someone more black bar worthy for Hacker News, hope we have one up soon.

krapp 11y ago

I hope not. The black bar has become a meaningless exercise in political posturing. Edit: allow me to clarify - just having to choose whether or not someone is "black bar worthy" is distasteful. Ian Murdock didn't get a black bar that I can recall, and I don't remember seeing one since then, even though other people relevant to the community have died. Are we to expect someone to change the color of the bar every time a death in the tech community occurs, and how to we judge relevance in that regard? No, it's an arbitrary gesture that doesn't really honor anything or anyone. It just gives people something to argue about. Why did someone get a black bar and someone else didn't? Why was this person deserving of it, and not that person? It's best to just remove it altogether.

euske 11y ago
Just want to speak up and say that your comment is actually very sensible, and it's terrifying to see it's downvoted.
tlrobinson 11y ago
Out of curiosity, does anyone have a list of people who HN has enabled the black bar for?
- tlrobinson 11y ago
  I went ahead and compiled a list of "black bar" memorials from what I could remember and a little bit of searching. (It's probably not comprehensive, but it's clearly composed of computing luminaries and members of the YC community) Dan Haubert (1984 - 2009) Robert Morris (1932 - 2011) John McCarthy (1927 - 2011) Dennis Ritchie (1941 - 2011) Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011) Doug Engelbart (1925 - 2013) Aaron Swartz (1986 - 2013) Gene Amdahl (1922 - 2015) Marvin Minsky (1927 - 2016)
mikeash 11y ago
I thought the black bar was done by the people who run the site, and "we" don't judge it at all. In which case, it's a personal decision to honor someone they care about by placing a subtle notice on ther site, which happens to be popular. It's no different in spirit to the thousands of tribute blog posts being written as I type this. I find it extremely distasteful to criticize how someone chooses to honor the dead. As long as they're not doing it by shooting guns into the air or hosting a destructive party next to your house or something like that, what do you care?
- krapp 11y ago
  "We" certainly do judge, even if that judgement has no practical value. People do act as if it's up for debate. Whenever we decide one death is worthy of it and ignore others, or get into petty arguments if it doesn't appear fast enough, or for the right person. An expectation builds which, if not properly catered to, leads to insult and animosity. And given that it's Hacker News, sometimes suspicion and paranoia. It certainly is within the site owners' right to do whatever they like, but for the community it's becoming a spectacle. Although obviously, as the bar is up right now, my opinion on the matter isn't going to prevail.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    I'd say the solution here is not to end the black bars, but to end the petty disputes by being more civilized in the discussions. Perhaps that's too much to ask, but we should give it a shot.
    - dang 11y ago
      Thank you.
      - JupiterMoon 11y ago
        Why?
        11y ago