3 ms·

Surely there are better places to post funny but thought-free links than Hacker News?

raganwald 16y ago
Privately, I agree with you and I haven't upvoted it. After that, I suggest that our options are to (1) Flag it if it's really off topic, and/or (2) Criticize it, which I think you've done well. My only concern is whether we should (3) be galled or outraged that others have their own idea of what ought to be #1 on HN. I like humour, and it seems like we share a personal preference for the kind that makes you laugh and then think hard when you realize that there's something incredibly insightful at the heart of the joke. Alas, I'm not skilled enough to pull that off myself. All I can say about Haskell is to quote Alan Perlis: A language that does not change the way you think about programming is not worth learning. And given that, the sad observation that most "Industry Types" as stereotyped in the OP are not interested in changing the way they think about anything. It's more than a Blub thing, it's a comfort zone thing.
- bpyne 16y ago
  I think comfort zone plays a part in IT developers seeming uninterested in "new" ideas. Closer to the heart of the problem IMO is that most business applications are just not very interesting. You can reduce them to: take input values from screen, run SQL query, and post query results back to the screen. Writing good SQL is the most challenging part. In order for apps to be more interesting - making new ideas in IT appealing - businesses must be willing to re-examine their processes and change them with an eye towards better automation and some business intelligence. However, getting a single department in a business to change its processes is as monumental as changing global warming. Of course, another issue altogether is COTS reducing the applications actually written in-house. Making intellectual investments in powerful programming languages is just not sound when a developer is simply writing "glue" code between vendor systems. People do generally get jazzed up in IT departments when new technologies come around. Sure, there are technological curmudgeons, but very few. Enthusiasm gets dampened when it is clear that a good business case cannot be made for the new technology. (I used "new" relative to an IT department's current environment and not in reference to age of the technology.)
lanstein 16y ago
Here's some content-rich Yegge for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BttI-y9VzXQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BttI-y9VzXQ
scotch_drinker 16y ago
Have you ever tried to write satire? Done well, it's exceptionally difficult. The post may be many things but thought free is certainly not one of them.
Dilpil 16y ago
This is humor understandable only by programmers, specifically, programmers who have some understanding of Haskell- I would hardly call that thought free humor.
drivebyacct2 16y ago
See, other places, people would ignore the submission rather than focusing the conversation on the post. The effort required to rant about a humor piece on HN is considerably than the effort it takes to glance past the obvious satirically titled post.
tjr 16y ago
I read your comments before reading the article, and fully expected to loathe the article. I found it well-written and amusing. I for one am pleased that it ranks highly on Hacker News.
angrycoder 16y ago
Yeah, because lord knows how programmers hate to laugh.

Privately, I agree with you and I haven't upvoted it. After that, I suggest that our options are to (1) Flag it if it's really off topic, and/or (2) Criticize it, which I think you've done well. My only concern is whether we should (3) be galled or outraged that others have their own idea of what ought to be #1 on HN. I like humour, and it seems like we share a personal preference for the kind that makes you laugh and then think hard when you realize that there's something incredibly insightful at the heart of the joke. Alas, I'm not skilled enough to pull that off myself. All I can say about Haskell is to quote Alan Perlis: A language that does not change the way you think about programming is not worth learning. And given that, the sad observation that most "Industry Types" as stereotyped in the OP are not interested in changing the way they think about anything. It's more than a Blub thing, it's a comfort zone thing.

bpyne 16y ago
I think comfort zone plays a part in IT developers seeming uninterested in "new" ideas. Closer to the heart of the problem IMO is that most business applications are just not very interesting. You can reduce them to: take input values from screen, run SQL query, and post query results back to the screen. Writing good SQL is the most challenging part. In order for apps to be more interesting - making new ideas in IT appealing - businesses must be willing to re-examine their processes and change them with an eye towards better automation and some business intelligence. However, getting a single department in a business to change its processes is as monumental as changing global warming. Of course, another issue altogether is COTS reducing the applications actually written in-house. Making intellectual investments in powerful programming languages is just not sound when a developer is simply writing "glue" code between vendor systems. People do generally get jazzed up in IT departments when new technologies come around. Sure, there are technological curmudgeons, but very few. Enthusiasm gets dampened when it is clear that a good business case cannot be made for the new technology. (I used "new" relative to an IT department's current environment and not in reference to age of the technology.)

lanstein 16y ago

Here's some content-rich Yegge for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BttI-y9VzXQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BttI-y9VzXQ

scotch_drinker 16y ago

Have you ever tried to write satire? Done well, it's exceptionally difficult. The post may be many things but thought free is certainly not one of them.

Dilpil 16y ago

This is humor understandable only by programmers, specifically, programmers who have some understanding of Haskell- I would hardly call that thought free humor.

drivebyacct2 16y ago

See, other places, people would ignore the submission rather than focusing the conversation on the post. The effort required to rant about a humor piece on HN is considerably than the effort it takes to glance past the obvious satirically titled post.

tjr 16y ago

I read your comments before reading the article, and fully expected to loathe the article. I found it well-written and amusing. I for one am pleased that it ranks highly on Hacker News.

angrycoder 16y ago

Yeah, because lord knows how programmers hate to laugh.