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> and poorly styled I disagree. Good line spacing, comfortable page width (doesn't take up the full width of my monitor), clean & concise, no 'junk' surroundin

> and poorly styled I disagree. Good line spacing, comfortable page width (doesn't take up the full width of my monitor), clean & concise, no 'junk' surrounding the content. I'm not sure I see where you're coming from

dewey 6y ago
Thanks, I wasn't sure if the parent comment referred to my writing or the blog design. The latter we try to keep as minimal as possible, with no JS (Except a tiny non-Google analytics snippet), ads, external fonts or other garbage on the page.
- SilasX 6y ago
  Those decisions are great! The choice of an ugly mono space font isn’t, and isn’t relevant to those design goals. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23832054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23832054
  - tempodox 6y ago
    “Ugly” is in the eye of the beholder. I for one can't complain about the font.
    - SilasX 6y ago
      “Ugly” relative to the “not trying to signal” crowd, yes. The vast majority of websites don’t use monospace, and publishers in any medium try to move away from it as soon as it’s technically possible.
  - hundchenkatze 6y ago
    I like it and don't think it's ugly. If you don't like it then disable custom fonts in your browser so you don't have to see other people's "ugly" preferences.
    - SilasX 6y ago
      That doesn't work; the problem is not that it specifies a font but that the CSS specifies "font-family: monospace"; I just verified that setting gfx.downloadable_fonts.enabled = false doesn't change anything. (Deleting that from the CSS works, as does using Reader Mode.) But regardless, deliberately setting prose to be monospace is a poor styling choice, and it probably is a choice because that's usually to give the typewriter aesthetic.
      - hundchenkatze 6y ago
        Ah, yeah good point. Haha, for the worst hack ever you could override the font the browser users for monospaced font, at least in Firefox[0]. Obviously that breaks other legitimate uses of monospaced fonts. As for it being a poor styling choice, we'll just have to agree to disagree. :) [0] https://i.imgur.com/XKi6QJb.png https://i.imgur.com/XKi6QJb.png
        SilasX 6y ago
        Nice, thanks for the pointer!
  - neuromanser 6y ago
    As another reply mentioned, it does not specify any particular font, so the choice of an ugly font is in fact yours. It looks pretty (to me) on my computer...
    - SilasX 6y ago
      I explained why that’s not correct in a reply that was present at the time you made that comment. The fact that it’s monospace is due to CSS; whatever font family my browser picks, it will have to meet that criterion. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23832927 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23832927
  - stronglikedan 6y ago
    I've found this font to be the easiest on my eyes in recent memory. Kudos to whoever decided to use it here.
SilasX 6y ago
Fair enough. That part is good. I just hate the “look at me, I’m so quirky I use an ugly monospace font. It’s like a typewriter, get it?”
- jml7c5 6y ago
  I actually prefer monospace, even for reading, so I wouldn't suggest it's just a matter of wanting to seem "quirky". I understand the frustration with disliking the font/style someone uses, but people have different preferences. (I could, for example, mention the preference for dark/light mode, or high/low-contrast.)

dewey 6y ago

Thanks, I wasn't sure if the parent comment referred to my writing or the blog design. The latter we try to keep as minimal as possible, with no JS (Except a tiny non-Google analytics snippet), ads, external fonts or other garbage on the page.

SilasX 6y ago
Those decisions are great! The choice of an ugly mono space font isn’t, and isn’t relevant to those design goals. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23832054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23832054
- tempodox 6y ago
  “Ugly” is in the eye of the beholder. I for one can't complain about the font.
  - SilasX 6y ago
    “Ugly” relative to the “not trying to signal” crowd, yes. The vast majority of websites don’t use monospace, and publishers in any medium try to move away from it as soon as it’s technically possible.
- hundchenkatze 6y ago
  I like it and don't think it's ugly. If you don't like it then disable custom fonts in your browser so you don't have to see other people's "ugly" preferences.
  - SilasX 6y ago
    That doesn't work; the problem is not that it specifies a font but that the CSS specifies "font-family: monospace"; I just verified that setting gfx.downloadable_fonts.enabled = false doesn't change anything. (Deleting that from the CSS works, as does using Reader Mode.) But regardless, deliberately setting prose to be monospace is a poor styling choice, and it probably is a choice because that's usually to give the typewriter aesthetic.
    - hundchenkatze 6y ago
      Ah, yeah good point. Haha, for the worst hack ever you could override the font the browser users for monospaced font, at least in Firefox[0]. Obviously that breaks other legitimate uses of monospaced fonts. As for it being a poor styling choice, we'll just have to agree to disagree. :) [0] https://i.imgur.com/XKi6QJb.png https://i.imgur.com/XKi6QJb.png
      - SilasX 6y ago
        Nice, thanks for the pointer!
- neuromanser 6y ago
  As another reply mentioned, it does not specify any particular font, so the choice of an ugly font is in fact yours. It looks pretty (to me) on my computer...
  - SilasX 6y ago
    I explained why that’s not correct in a reply that was present at the time you made that comment. The fact that it’s monospace is due to CSS; whatever font family my browser picks, it will have to meet that criterion. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23832927 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23832927
- stronglikedan 6y ago
  I've found this font to be the easiest on my eyes in recent memory. Kudos to whoever decided to use it here.

SilasX 6y ago

Fair enough. That part is good. I just hate the “look at me, I’m so quirky I use an ugly monospace font. It’s like a typewriter, get it?”

jml7c5 6y ago
I actually prefer monospace, even for reading, so I wouldn't suggest it's just a matter of wanting to seem "quirky". I understand the frustration with disliking the font/style someone uses, but people have different preferences. (I could, for example, mention the preference for dark/light mode, or high/low-contrast.)