4 ms·

Well, I was completely unaware that HN supported polls. This is a pleasant surprise.

dang 6y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25097578 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25097578 (which led to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25097685 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25097685) Evidence that no one reads the FAQ! https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html
- amyjess 6y ago
  Thank you!
- 1996 6y ago
  Are their guidelines on what should and what shouldn't be made into a poll question?
  - dayjah 6y ago
    My assumption is that it follows general post guidelines: -- What to Submit On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity. Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic.
    - jraph 6y ago
      > If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic What would be the catastrophic consequences of this guideline if HN started a TV channel with news that would "gratifies one's intellectual curiosity"?
- MaxBarraclough 6y ago
  > Evidence that no one reads the FAQ! Turns out you could confirm this suspicion with a poll.
  - arthurcolle 6y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25393758 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25393758
- freedomben 6y ago
  Ha! Although I have read the FAQ numerous times, but I don't regularly check it. Maybe it needs an RSS feed :-P
  - dumbfounder 6y ago
    To guarantee no one reads it?
  - dang 6y ago
    I thought the bit about polls had been there forever. Someone could check that via archive.org - but you have to use the older URL which was probably http://www.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html http://www.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html.
  - moonchild 6y ago
    It's been there at least since 2008 - https://web.archive.org/web/20080518203408/http://ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://web.archive.org/web/20080518203408/http://ycombinato...
- choward 6y ago
  Why would I read the FAQ if I don't have any questions?
  - iso947 6y ago
    For questions you don’t know you have. I read the iperf man page earlier for laughs, discovered the -B option which I’d forgotten existed.
    - choward 6y ago
      Manuals make sense to read to learn something. I'm not going to seek out an FAQ unless I have a question. I guess I don't like FAQs in general. They're usually not really FAQs, but more of disorganized manual.
- aerovistae 6y ago
  Seems like a discoverability issue.
- Eduard 6y ago
  Evidence that there is room for improvement in HN's user interface.
criddell 6y ago
And I did it wrong. I thought you had to enter 1,2, or 3 in the text box... After seeing my comment that just had '1' in it, I figured it out.
JosephRedfern 6y ago
For science: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25392036 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25392036
purple-again 6y ago
I pulled down a copy of HN earlier in the year for analysis and was shocked to find polls among the data. It was a very small % of the total content, small enough I assumed it was an old feature that got removed.
Plestor 6y ago
Wow... if I had made that statement, I would have been immediately down-voted and my comment removed for not "following the rules". And then I wonder why certain 'mods' or overzealous persons have it in for me...
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

dang 6y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25097578 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25097578 (which led to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25097685 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25097685) Evidence that no one reads the FAQ! https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html

amyjess 6y ago
Thank you!
1996 6y ago
Are their guidelines on what should and what shouldn't be made into a poll question?
- dayjah 6y ago
  My assumption is that it follows general post guidelines: -- What to Submit On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity. Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic.
  - jraph 6y ago
    > If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic What would be the catastrophic consequences of this guideline if HN started a TV channel with news that would "gratifies one's intellectual curiosity"?
MaxBarraclough 6y ago
> Evidence that no one reads the FAQ! Turns out you could confirm this suspicion with a poll.
- arthurcolle 6y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25393758 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25393758
freedomben 6y ago
Ha! Although I have read the FAQ numerous times, but I don't regularly check it. Maybe it needs an RSS feed :-P
- dumbfounder 6y ago
  To guarantee no one reads it?
- dang 6y ago
  I thought the bit about polls had been there forever. Someone could check that via archive.org - but you have to use the older URL which was probably http://www.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html http://www.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html.
- moonchild 6y ago
  It's been there at least since 2008 - https://web.archive.org/web/20080518203408/http://ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://web.archive.org/web/20080518203408/http://ycombinato...
choward 6y ago
Why would I read the FAQ if I don't have any questions?
- iso947 6y ago
  For questions you don’t know you have. I read the iperf man page earlier for laughs, discovered the -B option which I’d forgotten existed.
  - choward 6y ago
    Manuals make sense to read to learn something. I'm not going to seek out an FAQ unless I have a question. I guess I don't like FAQs in general. They're usually not really FAQs, but more of disorganized manual.
aerovistae 6y ago
Seems like a discoverability issue.
Eduard 6y ago
Evidence that there is room for improvement in HN's user interface.

criddell 6y ago

And I did it wrong. I thought you had to enter 1,2, or 3 in the text box... After seeing my comment that just had '1' in it, I figured it out.

JosephRedfern 6y ago

For science: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25392036 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25392036

purple-again 6y ago

I pulled down a copy of HN earlier in the year for analysis and was shocked to find polls among the data. It was a very small % of the total content, small enough I assumed it was an old feature that got removed.

Plestor 6y ago

Wow... if I had made that statement, I would have been immediately down-voted and my comment removed for not "following the rules". And then I wonder why certain 'mods' or overzealous persons have it in for me...

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]