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I think the real reason is that developers are maybe some of the hardest to fool customers on the planet. Since we literally build all of this our B.S. detecti

I think the real reason is that developers are maybe some of the hardest to fool customers on the planet. Since we literally build all of this our B.S. detection meter is really high. Kite thought it can go after the up and coming new developers by doing slightly shady things. However, developers also have an incredible allergy to such tactics and it forever taints your brand. So overall, developers do pay for tools, just not useless ones with shady growth tactics.

esperent 4y ago
> Kite thought it can go after the up and coming new developers by doing slightly shady things I briefly tried Kite a few years ago. I didn't notice anything shady although maybe I just didn't stick around long enough. What shady tactics are you referring to?
- valenceelectron 4y ago
  Essentially, they bought the Atom Minimap plugin and added kite-specific code/offers. This blew up a lot in the respective GitHub repo and also on HN. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14857944 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14857944 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14836653 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14836653
- ilrwbwrkhv 4y ago
  > I fell for this. I enabled it because I was curious about trying new development tools, only to find out later it uploaded all of the source code on my computer to their service. What the hell. An old comment from another user. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14837253 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14837253
HatchedLake721 4y ago
I’d say it’s the opposite. Developers easily fool themselves thinking they’ll save $9 p/m by building something from scratch in 3 weeks.
dmitriid 4y ago
> Since we literally build all of this our B.S. detection meter is really high. Oh no. The only thing that's high is our conviction that our BS meter is high. We fall prey to, come up with and promote as much BS as the next person.

esperent 4y ago

> Kite thought it can go after the up and coming new developers by doing slightly shady things I briefly tried Kite a few years ago. I didn't notice anything shady although maybe I just didn't stick around long enough. What shady tactics are you referring to?

valenceelectron 4y ago
Essentially, they bought the Atom Minimap plugin and added kite-specific code/offers. This blew up a lot in the respective GitHub repo and also on HN. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14857944 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14857944 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14836653 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14836653
ilrwbwrkhv 4y ago
> I fell for this. I enabled it because I was curious about trying new development tools, only to find out later it uploaded all of the source code on my computer to their service. What the hell. An old comment from another user. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14837253 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14837253

HatchedLake721 4y ago

I’d say it’s the opposite. Developers easily fool themselves thinking they’ll save $9 p/m by building something from scratch in 3 weeks.

dmitriid 4y ago

> Since we literally build all of this our B.S. detection meter is really high. Oh no. The only thing that's high is our conviction that our BS meter is high. We fall prey to, come up with and promote as much BS as the next person.