HN has never been anti-joke but it's always been anti-distraction. You can make jokes on HN but the only way they're not going to be downvoted into oblivion is

HN has never been anti-joke but it's always been anti-distraction. You can make jokes on HN but the only way they're not going to be downvoted into oblivion is if they don't distract from the subject or are exceptionally funny.