"One reason I don't enjoy HN as much as I did several years ago is that the default behavior seems to be to attack civil libertarians, free software enthusiasts

"One reason I don't enjoy HN as much as I did several years ago is that the default behavior seems to be to attack civil libertarians, free software enthusiasts, file sharers, builders who place idealism over profit... basically everyone but the sellers." I've definitely seen a lot of this behavior on HN, but I think it used to be a lot worse than it is now. HN used to be mostly made up of startup founders and others very close to the startup scene, who are typically strong believers in capitalism, with an instinct to sympathize with business owners and valorize profit making. As HN has grown, lots of others unrelated to the startup scene (even unrelated to technology) have joined. As a result, the views getting expressed on here have become a lot more varied. There's actually quite a nice balance now, with representatives of all those you mention: civil libertarians, free software enthusiasts, file sharers, and builders who place idealism over profit. Look at threads about RMS, or even the thread linked to here, where Mr Swartz was attacked.. plenty of people come to their defense and express their idealism. Your own post is an example of this. Of course, the startup-loving, pro-capitalist types still tend to dominate here, but not nearly to the extent they used to.