4 ms·

New readers should note that it’s a very pessimistic community that doesn’t represent the average person in tech. For example the very loud minority with disabl

New readers should note that it’s a very pessimistic community that doesn’t represent the average person in tech. For example the very loud minority with disabled JavaScript (because it’s the enemy) complaining that sites don’t work without it and that the web is dead. While in the real world no one cares. I _have_ learned a lot and continue to use this site every day. The negativity can be mentally draining though.

mrfusion 6y ago
Yes. In general it’s also fairly cynical with new technologies and at times pro environment to the point of being anti-human. (At least going by the top comments) But if you keep that in mind, you’re going to have a great time here.
veddox 6y ago
I don‘t find it pessimistic as such, although there is a vocal nostalgia for „the web as it used to be“ (i.e. pre-2000). My bigger gripe is the prevailing tech-hubris, thinking that any problem can be solved with the right technology if you throw sufficiently smart people at it. I‘m not sure how useful the concept of an „average person in tech“ is. HN is certainly not average in that it does have a strongly pronounced dominant subculture, but at the same time there is a very wide variety of people on this site.
- veddox 6y ago
  P.S. I think the key to understanding „HN culture“ is to realise that it sees itself as a continuation of the „hacker culture“ started by the earliest computer nerds, back in the 50s. There is a pretty direct line that can be drawn from those early computing labs, through the early Internet and the FOSS movement, to Silicon Valley startup culture, to HN.
forgotmypw17 6y ago
>For example the very loud minority with disabled JavaScript (because it’s the enemy) complaining that sites don’t work without it and that the web is dead. While in the real world no one cares. I'm one of those people. I guess people with slow connections, security-conscious, screen-reader users, users of text-mode browsers, and users of older devices, are not part of the real world for you. Many people outside of HN care about this issue, they just don't know how to verbalize it because they don't know what JS is. Instead, they see it as "site doesn't work" or "site tells me to fuck off because my browser isn't good enough." It's not "negativity", it's wanting to make the Web an accessible place for everyone, not just people with fast hardware on fast connections. To me, "negativity" is writing off an opinion because I don't know how to writer a proper website with progressive enhancement.

mrfusion 6y ago

Yes. In general it’s also fairly cynical with new technologies and at times pro environment to the point of being anti-human. (At least going by the top comments) But if you keep that in mind, you’re going to have a great time here.

veddox 6y ago

I don‘t find it pessimistic as such, although there is a vocal nostalgia for „the web as it used to be“ (i.e. pre-2000). My bigger gripe is the prevailing tech-hubris, thinking that any problem can be solved with the right technology if you throw sufficiently smart people at it. I‘m not sure how useful the concept of an „average person in tech“ is. HN is certainly not average in that it does have a strongly pronounced dominant subculture, but at the same time there is a very wide variety of people on this site.

veddox 6y ago
P.S. I think the key to understanding „HN culture“ is to realise that it sees itself as a continuation of the „hacker culture“ started by the earliest computer nerds, back in the 50s. There is a pretty direct line that can be drawn from those early computing labs, through the early Internet and the FOSS movement, to Silicon Valley startup culture, to HN.

forgotmypw17 6y ago

>For example the very loud minority with disabled JavaScript (because it’s the enemy) complaining that sites don’t work without it and that the web is dead. While in the real world no one cares. I'm one of those people. I guess people with slow connections, security-conscious, screen-reader users, users of text-mode browsers, and users of older devices, are not part of the real world for you. Many people outside of HN care about this issue, they just don't know how to verbalize it because they don't know what JS is. Instead, they see it as "site doesn't work" or "site tells me to fuck off because my browser isn't good enough." It's not "negativity", it's wanting to make the Web an accessible place for everyone, not just people with fast hardware on fast connections. To me, "negativity" is writing off an opinion because I don't know how to writer a proper website with progressive enhancement.