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> "it is sad to me when people do the 'TL;DR' thing" HN has a strong bias toward allowing people to allocate their time based on their preferences. The tl;dr
by lotharbot 15y ago
> "it is sad to me when people do the 'TL;DR' thing"
HN has a strong bias toward allowing people to allocate their time based on their preferences. The tl;dr convention is tremendously useful because it allows people to make an informed decision as to whether or not to read the article, based on a summary which is (typically) more accurate than the headline.
In particular, if someone thought the article might have something new to say about the math of blackjack, the original comment would have dispelled them of that notion and therefore saved them some aggravation.
On the other hand, if someone was looking for a short story about the personality behind a famous gambler and didn't want to get bogged down in math, your comment may have enticed them to read. Thus, both comments are of value.
- dalke 15y agoThe premise of "tl" - "too long" - is a negative. While a convention, it's also dismissive, and that's what makes me sad. It reminds me of Emperor Joseph II telling Mozart there are "too many notes" in The Marriage of Figaro. I would prefer people said "summary" or "precis" instead of "tl;dr". In any case, it's only one of many conventions. Another convention is that "The Atlantic", "New Yorker", etc. write high-quality short stories and don't dive into technical details. It's sad that people feel that other readers here are ignorant enough of history to need additional clues about a 150+ year old magazine.