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It's a forum that properly belongs in the late 90s that's been kept alive by extremely diligent moderation and a fucking shitton of venture capital.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
qsort 4y ago
> that's been kept alive by extremely diligent moderation The unreasonable effectiveness of dang. > and a fucking shitton of venture capital. Certainly something that Y Combinator doesn't lack is money, but I can't imagine running HN being that expensive. Its traffic is way less than most mainstream sources and there's little to no development. I'd rather say it managed to become a cultural icon in its niche, hence its continued success.
- noduerme 4y ago
  Totally - I don't want to be misunderstood, I wasn't saying that VC pays the bills for the site... that wasn't what I meant at all. I was using poetic license to mean that VC still has a need for some places like this, and its phantom presence keeps the pot boiling here.
junon 4y ago
Dang is one of the most efficient mods on the internet. Not to place him on a pedestal too much but he's a pretty incredible individual when it comes to running and maintaining a site.
- noduerme 4y ago
  having run BBSs and personally moderated chat for years on a poker site, I can tell you I would run out of patience much, much faster than he does with any of the multifarious horseshit that springs up on something this size on a daily basis. Dude's basically a saint. I'm not helping here, either. I know. Let me tell a side story instead. When I was a kid in LA, there was this coffee house that had 6 tables inside, shotgun sized place, started by a guy and his sister who moved from Oklahoma City with the eventual intention of starting tiki bars. When they got successful in the bar business, they were about to shut down the coffee place. But it was an all night joint - I was working there a few nights a week, and mostly I would play chess or cards with the regulars when I didn't have to get up and serve coffee. People were really distraught that it was being shut down. One of the regulars, a guy named Jeremy, bought it. Didn't make a dime. Just wanted his place to come have coffee and cigarettes all night. And he knew how to keep people in check, which is what you need to run any good establishment. This is a bit like that.
vkoskiv 4y ago
It is my understanding that the fixed operating costs (hosting/bandwidth) for this site are quite low. Not sure how much staff they have, but they are doing a really good job.
- noduerme 4y ago
  The capital has withdrawn and no longer directly subsidizes the running cost of the site, but don't let that fool you... the primary virtue of this site for the majority (those who don't just enjoy yammering at each other, like me and other crusty bastards) is definitely its proximity and legibility to said capital
  - balsam 4y ago
    Do YC no longer pay the mods’ salaries? That’s odd, I was under the impression that HN exists to serve the interests of YC. If you look carefully at the behavior of the largely negative _oinbas_ thread given its #upvotes and recency it shouldnt be so quickly off the front page compared to others now on it. Not to mention the regular job postings. EDIT— this post too, perhaps its an automated system?
  - walterbell 4y ago
    > The capital has withdrawn and no longer directly subsidizes the running cost of the site Which entity are you claiming is the owner and funder of HN? The FAQ says: What's the relationship between YC and HN? Y Combinator owns and funds HN. The HN team is editorially independent.
- newswasboring 4y ago
  I don't think there is any "staff", according to this newyorker article[1] its just 2 people. Personally I have only seen dang. [1] https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-silicon-valley/the-lonely-work-of-moderating-hacker-news https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-silicon-valley/th...

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

qsort 4y ago

> that's been kept alive by extremely diligent moderation The unreasonable effectiveness of dang. > and a fucking shitton of venture capital. Certainly something that Y Combinator doesn't lack is money, but I can't imagine running HN being that expensive. Its traffic is way less than most mainstream sources and there's little to no development. I'd rather say it managed to become a cultural icon in its niche, hence its continued success.

noduerme 4y ago
Totally - I don't want to be misunderstood, I wasn't saying that VC pays the bills for the site... that wasn't what I meant at all. I was using poetic license to mean that VC still has a need for some places like this, and its phantom presence keeps the pot boiling here.

junon 4y ago

Dang is one of the most efficient mods on the internet. Not to place him on a pedestal too much but he's a pretty incredible individual when it comes to running and maintaining a site.

noduerme 4y ago
having run BBSs and personally moderated chat for years on a poker site, I can tell you I would run out of patience much, much faster than he does with any of the multifarious horseshit that springs up on something this size on a daily basis. Dude's basically a saint. I'm not helping here, either. I know. Let me tell a side story instead. When I was a kid in LA, there was this coffee house that had 6 tables inside, shotgun sized place, started by a guy and his sister who moved from Oklahoma City with the eventual intention of starting tiki bars. When they got successful in the bar business, they were about to shut down the coffee place. But it was an all night joint - I was working there a few nights a week, and mostly I would play chess or cards with the regulars when I didn't have to get up and serve coffee. People were really distraught that it was being shut down. One of the regulars, a guy named Jeremy, bought it. Didn't make a dime. Just wanted his place to come have coffee and cigarettes all night. And he knew how to keep people in check, which is what you need to run any good establishment. This is a bit like that.

vkoskiv 4y ago

It is my understanding that the fixed operating costs (hosting/bandwidth) for this site are quite low. Not sure how much staff they have, but they are doing a really good job.

noduerme 4y ago
The capital has withdrawn and no longer directly subsidizes the running cost of the site, but don't let that fool you... the primary virtue of this site for the majority (those who don't just enjoy yammering at each other, like me and other crusty bastards) is definitely its proximity and legibility to said capital
- balsam 4y ago
  Do YC no longer pay the mods’ salaries? That’s odd, I was under the impression that HN exists to serve the interests of YC. If you look carefully at the behavior of the largely negative _oinbas_ thread given its #upvotes and recency it shouldnt be so quickly off the front page compared to others now on it. Not to mention the regular job postings. EDIT— this post too, perhaps its an automated system?
- walterbell 4y ago
  > The capital has withdrawn and no longer directly subsidizes the running cost of the site Which entity are you claiming is the owner and funder of HN? The FAQ says: What's the relationship between YC and HN? Y Combinator owns and funds HN. The HN team is editorially independent.
newswasboring 4y ago
I don't think there is any "staff", according to this newyorker article[1] its just 2 people. Personally I have only seen dang. [1] https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-silicon-valley/the-lonely-work-of-moderating-hacker-news https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-silicon-valley/th...