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I'm not complaining because I know that's forbidden, but how loosely is "anything that good hackers would find interesting" being interpreted these days? As be

I'm not complaining because I know that's forbidden, but how loosely is "anything that good hackers would find interesting" being interpreted these days? As best as I can tell, nothing is off topic... (?)

at-fates-hands 10y ago
Totally agree. Not to mention the article is incredibly biased.
frandroid 10y ago
How does "Many early hackers hackers did LSD" sound like?
- Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
  Many present day hackers, too.
- atomical 10y ago
  Many early hackers also ate food, wore clothes, and spoke different languages. While interesting and thought provoking it doesn't necessary make it HN worthy.
emmett 10y ago
You are exactly correct. Nothing is off-topic on Hacker News; the rule is "anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity", so that's a pretty wide mandate. I know you're saying you're not complaining, but you clearly are. Complaining things are off-topic isn't really helpful. I don't think the article is very good, but the problem isn't that LSD usage is somehow off-topic.
oldmanjay 10y ago
Since the community votes on the stories, it's being interpreted exactly as loosely as the community desires, moment to moment. For instance, in my opinion you nailed it exactly. Nothing is off topic.
candu 10y ago
"I'm not complaining oh wait yes I am see what I did there." More seriously: the many connections between computing and the psychedelic counterculture are well documented. (Markoff's "What the Dormouse Said" is an excellent read in this vein.) Discussions of disproportionate sentencing also strike a chord with "good hackers" who are aware of the history of CFAA sentencing, the Aaron Swartz debacle, and other terrible misadventures in our modern legal framework. If anything, this remark shows your deep ignorance of the broader cultural / political context of computing far more than it points to any inadequacy of the article in question.
- bostonpete 10y ago
  Bullshit, it was a legitimate question. I don't make a habit of complaining about stories being off-topic and generally I could care less. But if there's a notion of on-vs-off-topic, I don't see the harm in clarifying it or discussing it within the community once in a while. You comment raised some interesting points -- I don't see why you had to throw in the insulting tone and phrasing.
- atomical 10y ago
  Don't be rude.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Jach 10y ago
A response I got to more or less the same: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11967634 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11967634 But I would argue drugs are way more on topic than politics. (See: other replies.) Plus it has far less chance of creating a toxic (even if civil by mod standards) discussion. As best I can tell, anything that's submitted and voted up and not flagged to hell (but sometimes mods override that) is on topic. Edit: and I just finished the article, it's not even bad. (Biased? I guess if you're expecting some drugs-are-bad-mkay disclaimer... it's just a short q&a.) This 70 year old seems incredibly up to date with technology and future implications.
buckbova 10y ago
Flag, hide, move on.
jcoffland 10y ago
Interesting how quickly this article was censored once it hit the front page.
- Jach 10y ago
  Censored because VC image(?) or flagged when people hit the DB error or flagged for being about drugs/off-topic or artificially lowered to lessen the hug of death on the server?
  - jcoffland 10y ago
    Probably due to flagging but censored none the less. HN has a strong conservative element.
jmcgough 10y ago
Early hackers were very counter-culture. Modern ones still have an element of that.

at-fates-hands 10y ago

Totally agree. Not to mention the article is incredibly biased.

frandroid 10y ago

How does "Many early hackers hackers did LSD" sound like?

Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
Many present day hackers, too.
atomical 10y ago
Many early hackers also ate food, wore clothes, and spoke different languages. While interesting and thought provoking it doesn't necessary make it HN worthy.

emmett 10y ago

You are exactly correct. Nothing is off-topic on Hacker News; the rule is "anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity", so that's a pretty wide mandate. I know you're saying you're not complaining, but you clearly are. Complaining things are off-topic isn't really helpful. I don't think the article is very good, but the problem isn't that LSD usage is somehow off-topic.

oldmanjay 10y ago

Since the community votes on the stories, it's being interpreted exactly as loosely as the community desires, moment to moment. For instance, in my opinion you nailed it exactly. Nothing is off topic.

candu 10y ago

"I'm not complaining oh wait yes I am see what I did there." More seriously: the many connections between computing and the psychedelic counterculture are well documented. (Markoff's "What the Dormouse Said" is an excellent read in this vein.) Discussions of disproportionate sentencing also strike a chord with "good hackers" who are aware of the history of CFAA sentencing, the Aaron Swartz debacle, and other terrible misadventures in our modern legal framework. If anything, this remark shows your deep ignorance of the broader cultural / political context of computing far more than it points to any inadequacy of the article in question.

bostonpete 10y ago
Bullshit, it was a legitimate question. I don't make a habit of complaining about stories being off-topic and generally I could care less. But if there's a notion of on-vs-off-topic, I don't see the harm in clarifying it or discussing it within the community once in a while. You comment raised some interesting points -- I don't see why you had to throw in the insulting tone and phrasing.
atomical 10y ago
Don't be rude.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

Jach 10y ago

A response I got to more or less the same: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11967634 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11967634 But I would argue drugs are way more on topic than politics. (See: other replies.) Plus it has far less chance of creating a toxic (even if civil by mod standards) discussion. As best I can tell, anything that's submitted and voted up and not flagged to hell (but sometimes mods override that) is on topic. Edit: and I just finished the article, it's not even bad. (Biased? I guess if you're expecting some drugs-are-bad-mkay disclaimer... it's just a short q&a.) This 70 year old seems incredibly up to date with technology and future implications.

buckbova 10y ago

Flag, hide, move on.

jcoffland 10y ago

Interesting how quickly this article was censored once it hit the front page.

Jach 10y ago
Censored because VC image(?) or flagged when people hit the DB error or flagged for being about drugs/off-topic or artificially lowered to lessen the hug of death on the server?
- jcoffland 10y ago
  Probably due to flagging but censored none the less. HN has a strong conservative element.

jmcgough 10y ago

Early hackers were very counter-culture. Modern ones still have an element of that.