3 ms·

I don't have a problem with polls, per se, but the ones coming up lately seem totally pointless. "What kind of OS do you use" is most often the opener for the

by sequoia 15y ago

I don't have a problem with polls, per se, but the ones coming up lately seem totally pointless. "What kind of OS do you use" is most often the opener for the Eternal Argument. Plus we're talking about a fraction of a fraction of an already small community, self-selected so those who want to assert that their OS (or whatever) is The Best are much more likely to comment. It might be better phrased "what OS are HN users most passionate about?" Anyway no one's putting a gun to my head and making me read it, so carry on. :)

raphman 15y ago
"What kind of OS do you use" is most often the opener for the Eternal Argument. [...] It might be better phrased "what OS are HN users most passionate about?" Actually, I think this poll gave a much more balanced view of OS distribution on HN than the comments I read here all the day. It takes much more passion to write a comment "I am using $OS because..." than to vote for one's OS in such a poll. For example, I was a little bit surprised about how many HN users actually use Windows as their primary OS, given that Windows tips and tools rarely show up on the frontpage. So, in my opinion, polls are useful in getting a more objective view of HN interests than one can get from submissions and comments.