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I think scores on github, stackoverflow and HN may be a net win for all concerned. Twitter and Facebook scores on the other hand... a massive net loss for all

I think scores on github, stackoverflow and HN may be a net win for all concerned. Twitter and Facebook scores on the other hand... a massive net loss for all but Twitter, FB, their employees and shareholders.

kodah 6y ago
I'm not really convinced GitHub scoring is realistic or even really representative of much. Kubernetes has tons of stars, yet how many stars do all the packages that Kubernetes consumes have? The ingredients and the arrangement of the parts are often more important than the whole; yet look who is rewarded. HN scores, to me, stop mattering past about 500, maybe 1000. By then you should know the guidelines, how to conduct some proper discourse, and should have dropped baggage from previous websites like Twitter or Reddit.
- Taylor_OD 6y ago
  I like having more green boxes than not on github. But at least 10% of my little green boxes are just commits little nonsense commits I made for the sake of getting a green box. Is a potential employer ever going to look over every one of my commits to see what percentage are meaningful? Nope. Will a potential employer look and see a lot of green boxes and think that makes me more qualified or passionate? You bet your ass they will and have. Is that good? I don't think so but I'll keep doing it as long as it helps me get paid.
  - MaulingMonkey 6y ago
    > Is a potential employer ever going to look over every one of my commits to see what percentage are meaningful? Nope. What they'll do instead is look at a semi-random sampling of your repositories and commits. They don't need to look at every commit to get a statistically meaningful sampling of what your commits look like, and they can look at even less to get a vague, rough idea of what you're up to.
  - hombre_fatal 6y ago
    That’s the sort of thing I thought employers did when I was younger, but let me disabuse you of that superstition before you waste more of your time. And if you really do believe it, then you can fill in a 100% green grid with a trivial script.
    - Taylor_OD 6y ago
      I'm about a month into my first full time dev job. I know that in my job search the activity on github played a role. It is likely much less important or noted for someone with more experience.
- xiphias2 6y ago
  It's good for me to see which is the more popular repo when I have to select between 2 with the same functionality. Popolar repos tend to be better maintained.
  - AuthorizedCust 6y ago
    (I am the OP.) To me, that's an example of you benefitting off others' scores. The premise of the article is to not get overly concerned with your score.
    - xiphias2 6y ago
      It's great for creating network effects / getting popular. I understand that some people can't handle attention well, but people who can use it well clearly benefit from it by creating a business out of it, connections, or getting a job.
mattgreenrocks 6y ago
FWIW, I find the belief that GitHub stars mean anything to be highly offensive. However, there are plenty that do. And I don’t understand them at all.
- hombre_fatal 6y ago
  It’s basic social proof. Social proof doesn’t tell you everything, but it tells you something. The fact that anyone uses a library is a signal in itself that puts it ahead of a zero star library. People who have a problem with that are usually, in my experience, the ones placing too much importance on stars, and then projecting that onto everyone else who actually have more apathetic, reasonable views.

kodah 6y ago

I'm not really convinced GitHub scoring is realistic or even really representative of much. Kubernetes has tons of stars, yet how many stars do all the packages that Kubernetes consumes have? The ingredients and the arrangement of the parts are often more important than the whole; yet look who is rewarded. HN scores, to me, stop mattering past about 500, maybe 1000. By then you should know the guidelines, how to conduct some proper discourse, and should have dropped baggage from previous websites like Twitter or Reddit.

Taylor_OD 6y ago
I like having more green boxes than not on github. But at least 10% of my little green boxes are just commits little nonsense commits I made for the sake of getting a green box. Is a potential employer ever going to look over every one of my commits to see what percentage are meaningful? Nope. Will a potential employer look and see a lot of green boxes and think that makes me more qualified or passionate? You bet your ass they will and have. Is that good? I don't think so but I'll keep doing it as long as it helps me get paid.
- MaulingMonkey 6y ago
  > Is a potential employer ever going to look over every one of my commits to see what percentage are meaningful? Nope. What they'll do instead is look at a semi-random sampling of your repositories and commits. They don't need to look at every commit to get a statistically meaningful sampling of what your commits look like, and they can look at even less to get a vague, rough idea of what you're up to.
- hombre_fatal 6y ago
  That’s the sort of thing I thought employers did when I was younger, but let me disabuse you of that superstition before you waste more of your time. And if you really do believe it, then you can fill in a 100% green grid with a trivial script.
  - Taylor_OD 6y ago
    I'm about a month into my first full time dev job. I know that in my job search the activity on github played a role. It is likely much less important or noted for someone with more experience.
xiphias2 6y ago
It's good for me to see which is the more popular repo when I have to select between 2 with the same functionality. Popolar repos tend to be better maintained.
- AuthorizedCust 6y ago
  (I am the OP.) To me, that's an example of you benefitting off others' scores. The premise of the article is to not get overly concerned with your score.
  - xiphias2 6y ago
    It's great for creating network effects / getting popular. I understand that some people can't handle attention well, but people who can use it well clearly benefit from it by creating a business out of it, connections, or getting a job.

mattgreenrocks 6y ago

FWIW, I find the belief that GitHub stars mean anything to be highly offensive. However, there are plenty that do. And I don’t understand them at all.

hombre_fatal 6y ago
It’s basic social proof. Social proof doesn’t tell you everything, but it tells you something. The fact that anyone uses a library is a signal in itself that puts it ahead of a zero star library. People who have a problem with that are usually, in my experience, the ones placing too much importance on stars, and then projecting that onto everyone else who actually have more apathetic, reasonable views.