4 ms·

Took me a while to find out where the cool kids had gone from Slashdot back then ;) Speaking of which, let's keep HN a liberal and welcoming place also for cor

Took me a while to find out where the cool kids had gone from Slashdot back then ;) Speaking of which, let's keep HN a liberal and welcoming place also for corps/startups (but not astroturfers) where key developers, experts from non-IT, CEOs/CTOs can have a voice as that's what makes HN unique IMO.

jacquesm 5y ago
We even got the root node ;) https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cmdrtaco https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cmdrtaco
- CSMastermind 5y ago
  Wow that's a name I haven't thought about in a long time. I was in high school in the early 2000s and Slashdot was like a haven for me. I grew up in a town where I didn't know anyone in technology, let alone professional programmers. But thanks to the internet I could get onto Slashdot and talk to other nerds and interact with real live professional programmers. I haven't logged into my account in years but in hindsight that site meant a huge amount to me.
jillesvangurp 5y ago
Ah, I miss the old Slashdot. It took me a while to become a regular here as well. Slashdot got a bit too serious/corporate at some point and the founders eventually got out and at some point I just moved on as well. The last time I left a comment there was twelve years ago or so. I actually just logged in just to see if my account is still there. Karma still excellent :-). I like HN, but it could do with people being maybe a bit less uptight and a bit lighter sometimes. The comment section seems to have quite a few pedantic know it-alls taking themselves way to seriously; just like slashdot used to. Welcoming is maybe not a term I'd necessarily use for this. Anyway, happy birthday HN!
- allochthon 5y ago
  There's definitely a contingent in the HN comments with a bit of an antisocial streak. I wish people approached comments they take issue with with more of a pedagogical approach, starting with interpretive charity and trying to help the commenter see things in another way. I'd actually use the term "welcoming" in this context.
  - fartcannon 5y ago
    People get paid to promote shit on HN. It's a job you can get. There's no hope for the old internet these days. You can welcome the spammers, if you want, but all you're gonna get is spam.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - tentacleuno 5y ago
      > People get paid to promote shit on HN. It's a job you can get. Do you mind sharing more information about this, please?
- mindcrime 5y ago
  I like HN, but it could do with people being maybe a bit less uptight and a bit lighter sometimes. The comment section seems to have quite a few pedantic know it-alls taking themselves way to seriously; just like slashdot used to. That's a fair point, but at least the one thing we don't have here (for the most part) in comparison to /. is the steady stream of comments of the - GNAA - In Soviet Korea Only Old People Spy You With Email - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of those - X is dying, Netcraft confirms it. - etc. sort. Not that some of that stuff wasn't funny for a moment, but it definitely grew stale after a while.
  - echelon 5y ago
    "Hot grits", obscene ASCII art, homophobia, racism, nazi jokes... The comments section on Slashdot was downright offensive. I never understood why Slashdot tolerated these things. They killed their own community. HN was immediately the opposite: a place you could read the comments before the article.
ignoramous 5y ago
> ...welcoming place also for corps/startups news.yc, like all other mimetic communities on the web, has its flaws. For ex, it reserves plenty wrath and fury for a certain type of corps and upstarts. Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing; but, It is a thing.
ilamont 5y ago
Slashdot at the time was turning into a bit of a swamp, partly from its bad threaded commenting system, but mostly because of a constant addition of low-value "first" comments, needless attacks, and dumb links (Goatse, Rickrolling, etc.) HN came around at the right time, and really had a better community with a good signal:noise ratio. The moderating system (flagging, up/down votes, and of course @dang and his predecessors) really helped. One thing that's really impressed me as time has gone on is how far the expertise has expanded. I have bookmarked a bunch of users who consistently add solid insights, often with deep domain expertise sometimes from very unexpected quarters (diesel technicians, biologists, farmers, artists, musicians ...). They include @Animats @jdietrich @bkohlmann @nonbel @tptacek @zackmorris @jurassic @tamilama @patio11 @ries @nimbius @breakingcups @noduerme @300bps and many more.
Abishek_Muthian 5y ago
> let's keep HN a liberal and welcoming place also for corps/startups (but not astroturfers) where key developers, experts from non-IT, CEOs/CTOs can have a voice I agree and I would also like to see more encouragement for solopreneurs. As financial independence through solopreneurship has a better probability of being achieved than creating an unicorn startup; especially when not having a safety-net. So maybe less of 'Why are you making money' when an indie showcases their product, While defending bad practices of Trillion dollar mEga corps. as 'They have to make money'! P.S. Happy birthday HN, Congratulations & thanks to P.G, Initial set of users, Current users and of course Dan.

jacquesm 5y ago

We even got the root node ;) https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cmdrtaco https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cmdrtaco

CSMastermind 5y ago
Wow that's a name I haven't thought about in a long time. I was in high school in the early 2000s and Slashdot was like a haven for me. I grew up in a town where I didn't know anyone in technology, let alone professional programmers. But thanks to the internet I could get onto Slashdot and talk to other nerds and interact with real live professional programmers. I haven't logged into my account in years but in hindsight that site meant a huge amount to me.

jillesvangurp 5y ago

Ah, I miss the old Slashdot. It took me a while to become a regular here as well. Slashdot got a bit too serious/corporate at some point and the founders eventually got out and at some point I just moved on as well. The last time I left a comment there was twelve years ago or so. I actually just logged in just to see if my account is still there. Karma still excellent :-). I like HN, but it could do with people being maybe a bit less uptight and a bit lighter sometimes. The comment section seems to have quite a few pedantic know it-alls taking themselves way to seriously; just like slashdot used to. Welcoming is maybe not a term I'd necessarily use for this. Anyway, happy birthday HN!

allochthon 5y ago
There's definitely a contingent in the HN comments with a bit of an antisocial streak. I wish people approached comments they take issue with with more of a pedagogical approach, starting with interpretive charity and trying to help the commenter see things in another way. I'd actually use the term "welcoming" in this context.
- fartcannon 5y ago
  People get paid to promote shit on HN. It's a job you can get. There's no hope for the old internet these days. You can welcome the spammers, if you want, but all you're gonna get is spam.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - tentacleuno 5y ago
    > People get paid to promote shit on HN. It's a job you can get. Do you mind sharing more information about this, please?
mindcrime 5y ago
I like HN, but it could do with people being maybe a bit less uptight and a bit lighter sometimes. The comment section seems to have quite a few pedantic know it-alls taking themselves way to seriously; just like slashdot used to. That's a fair point, but at least the one thing we don't have here (for the most part) in comparison to /. is the steady stream of comments of the - GNAA - In Soviet Korea Only Old People Spy You With Email - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of those - X is dying, Netcraft confirms it. - etc. sort. Not that some of that stuff wasn't funny for a moment, but it definitely grew stale after a while.
- echelon 5y ago
  "Hot grits", obscene ASCII art, homophobia, racism, nazi jokes... The comments section on Slashdot was downright offensive. I never understood why Slashdot tolerated these things. They killed their own community. HN was immediately the opposite: a place you could read the comments before the article.

ignoramous 5y ago

> ...welcoming place also for corps/startups news.yc, like all other mimetic communities on the web, has its flaws. For ex, it reserves plenty wrath and fury for a certain type of corps and upstarts. Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing; but, It is a thing.

ilamont 5y ago

Slashdot at the time was turning into a bit of a swamp, partly from its bad threaded commenting system, but mostly because of a constant addition of low-value "first" comments, needless attacks, and dumb links (Goatse, Rickrolling, etc.) HN came around at the right time, and really had a better community with a good signal:noise ratio. The moderating system (flagging, up/down votes, and of course @dang and his predecessors) really helped. One thing that's really impressed me as time has gone on is how far the expertise has expanded. I have bookmarked a bunch of users who consistently add solid insights, often with deep domain expertise sometimes from very unexpected quarters (diesel technicians, biologists, farmers, artists, musicians ...). They include @Animats @jdietrich @bkohlmann @nonbel @tptacek @zackmorris @jurassic @tamilama @patio11 @ries @nimbius @breakingcups @noduerme @300bps and many more.

Abishek_Muthian 5y ago

> let's keep HN a liberal and welcoming place also for corps/startups (but not astroturfers) where key developers, experts from non-IT, CEOs/CTOs can have a voice I agree and I would also like to see more encouragement for solopreneurs. As financial independence through solopreneurship has a better probability of being achieved than creating an unicorn startup; especially when not having a safety-net. So maybe less of 'Why are you making money' when an indie showcases their product, While defending bad practices of Trillion dollar mEga corps. as 'They have to make money'! P.S. Happy birthday HN, Congratulations & thanks to P.G, Initial set of users, Current users and of course Dan.