4 ms·

http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html "On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includ

by branden 17y ago

http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html "On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups."

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
davidw 17y ago
Taken at face value, this means that if you get enough people to vote for something, then it's ok, no matter how "off topic" it is. Since there is no check for "being a hacker" to join this site, presumably I could find a bunch of people interested in, say, the Tour de France, get them to join, and start voting up bike racing articles. Or for that matter, perhaps there are enough people already here interested in bike racing to vote up those articles.
- branden 17y ago
  Hence the flag button and editors.
  - davidw 17y ago
    So, effectively, there is some sort of "what should be here" standard. It is not just "anything goes" as per the guideline. This kind of article completely fails the "of more interest to hackers than other people" test, which I think is more relevant.
    - branden 17y ago
      I agree that this article straddles the line, but like you point out, it's a big fuzzy line. I think it's best to just flag and move on.
    - sho 17y ago
      "This kind of article completely fails the "of more interest to hackers than other people" test" Au contraire, it's front page news at HN, and I don't see it enjoying such popularity at any other aggregator service. That does suggest it is, in fact, of more interest to hackers - or at least the HN variety - than other people.
      - davidw 17y ago
        Just getting something on the front page does not signify that it's hacker news. This article got there, for instance, and was subsequently killed: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=693525 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=693525
        sho 17y ago
        From the welcome message: "Stories on HN don't have to be about hacking, because good hackers aren't only interested in hacking, but they do have to be deeply interesting. What does "deeply interesting" mean? It means stuff that teaches you about the world. A story about a robbery, for example, would probably not be deeply interesting. But if this robbery was a sign of some bigger, underlying trend, then perhaps it could be." http://ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html http://ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html I thought that this submission fell into that category. If you don't agree, well, OK. (edited to remove personal reference)

by branden 17y ago

http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html "On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups."

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

davidw 17y ago

Taken at face value, this means that if you get enough people to vote for something, then it's ok, no matter how "off topic" it is. Since there is no check for "being a hacker" to join this site, presumably I could find a bunch of people interested in, say, the Tour de France, get them to join, and start voting up bike racing articles. Or for that matter, perhaps there are enough people already here interested in bike racing to vote up those articles.

branden 17y ago
Hence the flag button and editors.
- davidw 17y ago
  So, effectively, there is some sort of "what should be here" standard. It is not just "anything goes" as per the guideline. This kind of article completely fails the "of more interest to hackers than other people" test, which I think is more relevant.
  - branden 17y ago
    I agree that this article straddles the line, but like you point out, it's a big fuzzy line. I think it's best to just flag and move on.
  - sho 17y ago
    "This kind of article completely fails the "of more interest to hackers than other people" test" Au contraire, it's front page news at HN, and I don't see it enjoying such popularity at any other aggregator service. That does suggest it is, in fact, of more interest to hackers - or at least the HN variety - than other people.
    - davidw 17y ago
      Just getting something on the front page does not signify that it's hacker news. This article got there, for instance, and was subsequently killed: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=693525 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=693525
      - sho 17y ago
        From the welcome message: "Stories on HN don't have to be about hacking, because good hackers aren't only interested in hacking, but they do have to be deeply interesting. What does "deeply interesting" mean? It means stuff that teaches you about the world. A story about a robbery, for example, would probably not be deeply interesting. But if this robbery was a sign of some bigger, underlying trend, then perhaps it could be." http://ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html http://ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html I thought that this submission fell into that category. If you don't agree, well, OK. (edited to remove personal reference)