3 ms·
Here's an explanation Paul Graham posted ~6 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17705 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17705 The short of it is
by mjn 13y ago
Here's an explanation Paul Graham posted ~6 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17705 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17705
The short of it is that HN uses closures stored server-side to maintain state in various places throughout the site, and purges old closures regularly. As usage has gone up, what counts as an "old" closure is now probably unreasonably short. Restarting HN also invalidates all existing closures.
- Randgalt 13y agoThis doesn't excuse the awful user experience. Instead of a terse message there should be a reasonable message with a link to refresh.
- strict9 13y agoIt's inexcusable to use a technical implementation decision to justify a poor user experience. That's what the HN response is every time.
- midnitewarrior 13y agoAgree! HN embodies the startup culture. Unfortunately, the user experience here is of an abandoned startup web site. There is little excuse for such a poor user experience here. At least give me a link back to the home page and don't be so cryptic with the message...