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It's pretty easy to insult someone anonymously online. This is why I actually make a point of having my real identity connected to my HN (and reddit) account.

by dvt 8y ago

It's pretty easy to insult someone anonymously online. This is why I actually make a point of having my real identity connected to my HN (and reddit) account. But let me just say this: after I built Lofi and got more hate than I would've imagined for what was really a throwaway project, a great dread came over me. What if I was new at programming? What if I was just a college or high school kid learning how to use Electron because I simply didn't know C++ or Java or what-have-you? I know that if I got this much hate in my teens or early 20s, it would've discouraged me tremendously from pursuing startups, programming, and building. I really hope you realize that your words can deeply affect people. I have thick skin, went to an elite school, wrote a book, I'm arrogant af, and couldn't give a damn about what you have to say, dear anonymous HN commenter.... ...however, keep in mind that you might be negatively impacting an impressionable young person; or an underprivileged minority; or a total newbie. I hate the term "safe space" but we should all fight to keep HN as close to a Miltonian "marketplace of ideas" as possible.

DC-3 8y ago
Your arrogance was evident in your original comment, and as such, I felt no qualms about expressing my disapproval of your attitude towards shipping software. You're right - if you had come across less cocksure, I wouldn't have left a comment.
- vezycash 8y ago
  Arrogance? I saw no such thing. Maybe jealousy about his attitude to projects. I introduced a friend of mine to programming. He picked up pyret and released a cool little game with it. Instead of the community encouraging him, they shit on his code. Called it ugly, and pointed out a lot of nothings. Consequently, the dude quit programming. He now considers it something the smart ones do. He agrees with me when I say those haters don't matter. But, the spark's dead. I'm not saying we shouldn't give feedback. But feedback is different from nagging, complaints and bullying. A good way to give feedback correctly is the sandwich method. Specific Praise -> specific critique-> specific praise.
tjpnz 8y ago
>I know that if I got this much hate in my teens or early 20s, it would've discouraged me tremendously from pursuing startups, programming, and building. I would like to think that such personal attacks would be downvoted/flagged into oblivion here.

by dvt 8y ago

DC-3 8y ago

Your arrogance was evident in your original comment, and as such, I felt no qualms about expressing my disapproval of your attitude towards shipping software. You're right - if you had come across less cocksure, I wouldn't have left a comment.

vezycash 8y ago
Arrogance? I saw no such thing. Maybe jealousy about his attitude to projects. I introduced a friend of mine to programming. He picked up pyret and released a cool little game with it. Instead of the community encouraging him, they shit on his code. Called it ugly, and pointed out a lot of nothings. Consequently, the dude quit programming. He now considers it something the smart ones do. He agrees with me when I say those haters don't matter. But, the spark's dead. I'm not saying we shouldn't give feedback. But feedback is different from nagging, complaints and bullying. A good way to give feedback correctly is the sandwich method. Specific Praise -> specific critique-> specific praise.

tjpnz 8y ago

>I know that if I got this much hate in my teens or early 20s, it would've discouraged me tremendously from pursuing startups, programming, and building. I would like to think that such personal attacks would be downvoted/flagged into oblivion here.