FWIW, Hacker News doesn't pretend to be a general-information forum, and I think they're well within their rights (practically and morally) to shape conversatio

FWIW, Hacker News doesn't pretend to be a general-information forum, and I think they're well within their rights (practically and morally) to shape conversation to meet the goals of the space. This space has a published agenda and those who don't toe that line can go elsewhere; it's a very big Internet out there.