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Part of it is that responses rarely seem to take into account the reason something was built. Someone building a Python interpreter in JS to learn about languag

Part of it is that responses rarely seem to take into account the reason something was built. Someone building a Python interpreter in JS to learn about languages and interpreters often gets the same response that Facebook would get it they released the same code as an open source library, even though in the first case a Dev isn't saying it's perfect, just that they made something cool and want to show off work they're proud of. Oftentimes effort alone is commendable, even if it misses the mark, as long as it's not hurting users. We so easily forget that though when judging others' work.

nomel 8y ago
> effort alone is commendable I think this is where things fall apart for me, and I suspect others. I don't see effort, by itself, as commendable. Projects like these usually have the goal "can I do this too?"[1] The answer is always an obvious "yes", since it's been done before. The effort to learn something is commendable, but the act of learning is rarely "impressive". > No matter how successful, reliable, or loved a piece of software is, inevitably other developers will not value the time, effort, and craftsmanship that went into building it. Come on now. This can only be true if he himself has never been impressed with anyone else work. HN is filled with professionals who will be quick to give, usually helpful, critical feedback. I would go as far as to claim "wow cool" feedback doesn't contribute to the discussion, especially if the only purpose of the project was to complete a learning exercise. If others are like me, I'll often read in amazement, maybe try out the code, rather than fill the comment section with congratulations, which would rightfully be down voted. [1] ~20 projects for getting Python in the browser: http://stromberg.dnsalias.org/~strombrg/pybrowser/python-browser.html http://stromberg.dnsalias.org/~strombrg/pybrowser/python-bro...
Benjammer 8y ago
>Oftentimes effort alone is commendable, even if it misses the mark Commendable, yes; Monetarily valuable, ehhh I think the problem is that "Hey I built this thing isn't it cool" seems to lead to "I spent every waking hour on this for the last 3 years, so this is REALLY cool, see?" which leads to "I spent every waking hour on this for 3 years and now other people use it also!" which leads to "Hey, other people are profiting financially from my work, I should be compensated!" I think this is why HN commenters tend to jump the gun a bit when they cut out the middle steps and go from "Hey, look at this cool thing" straight to "You could never sell that as a product because X, Y, Z."

nomel 8y ago

> effort alone is commendable I think this is where things fall apart for me, and I suspect others. I don't see effort, by itself, as commendable. Projects like these usually have the goal "can I do this too?"[1] The answer is always an obvious "yes", since it's been done before. The effort to learn something is commendable, but the act of learning is rarely "impressive". > No matter how successful, reliable, or loved a piece of software is, inevitably other developers will not value the time, effort, and craftsmanship that went into building it. Come on now. This can only be true if he himself has never been impressed with anyone else work. HN is filled with professionals who will be quick to give, usually helpful, critical feedback. I would go as far as to claim "wow cool" feedback doesn't contribute to the discussion, especially if the only purpose of the project was to complete a learning exercise. If others are like me, I'll often read in amazement, maybe try out the code, rather than fill the comment section with congratulations, which would rightfully be down voted. [1] ~20 projects for getting Python in the browser: http://stromberg.dnsalias.org/~strombrg/pybrowser/python-browser.html http://stromberg.dnsalias.org/~strombrg/pybrowser/python-bro...

Benjammer 8y ago

>Oftentimes effort alone is commendable, even if it misses the mark Commendable, yes; Monetarily valuable, ehhh I think the problem is that "Hey I built this thing isn't it cool" seems to lead to "I spent every waking hour on this for the last 3 years, so this is REALLY cool, see?" which leads to "I spent every waking hour on this for 3 years and now other people use it also!" which leads to "Hey, other people are profiting financially from my work, I should be compensated!" I think this is why HN commenters tend to jump the gun a bit when they cut out the middle steps and go from "Hey, look at this cool thing" straight to "You could never sell that as a product because X, Y, Z."