Inevitably, hackers visit a site aimed at hackers and want to start building their own stuff to tweak it to their needs. How many of these tools/apps/sites real

Inevitably, hackers visit a site aimed at hackers and want to start building their own stuff to tweak it to their needs. How many of these tools/apps/sites really add any value, though? For the most part the site is already good enough. SearchYC is arguably the only truly necessary addition. It's not that there's anything egregiously wrong about that "HN for Honeycomb" app you're writing, but all the time you spend on that is time you're not spending on something that solves a real customer's needs. More time spent on that means: more money for you, more interesting posts on HN about your startup, and fewer meta-threads on the front page.