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This is some refreshingly pleasant transparency as to the spirit of the rules. Thanks!
by mquander 13y ago
This is some refreshingly pleasant transparency as to the spirit of the rules. Thanks!
- dang 13y agoClerical staff at your service. While I'm at it: please don't delete and then repost a story. That's an abuse of deletion and we penalize accounts that do much of it. Instead, use a different URL.
- sp332 13y agoWould you mind writing these down somewhere? I've done that a few times and now I have no idea if my account is penalized.
- dang 13y agoWhat do you mean by "writing these down somewhere"? I took a quick look at your account and it's fine.
- eof 13y agoI'm sure sp332 meant having a centralized place to understand the intricacies of HN mechanics.
- greatsuccess 13y agodont make me laugh
- dang 13y agoWe'll certainly add to the HN guidelines over time—and "please don't delete and repost" is the sort of thing we'll add. We probably won't try to make a complete list, though; I doubt that's even possible. In the short run, we're trying to answer specific questions with more transparency. Baby steps!
- sirsar 13y agoYour "while I'm at it" comment contained one rather specific rule that can penalize accounts. I (and presumably the parent) would much prefer a centralized list of guidelines, rather than trying to remember tidbits of advice sprinkled throughout threads.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- brudgers 13y agoStriving to behave well is pretty much the best guideline, and if you incur some punishment unjustly or accidently, then contact the HN moderators. HN is not a "whatever isn't explicitly prohibited is allowed" system. Instead it flows from general principles, and one of those principles appears to be that if you're caught abusing the system, there might be negative consequences because abusing the system is detrimental to its integrity and probably creates more work for somebody.
- dang 13y agoThis is exactly right.
- sirsar 13y agoI disagree that the rules stem naturally from common courtesy. - We have a system in place that prevents duplicates. - Except we expect you to find holes in it and bypass it when necessary. - Except you should never delete the original before posting a duplicate. - More? One would think the existence of a dupe detector implied a rule against duplicates, much like a low fence still implies private property.
- brudgers 13y agoAn analogy to futbol: Good referees make the calls that need to be made at this time, in this game, with these players. They have discretion. Compare that to basketball where all fouls must be called even when calling the foul clearly rewards the team committing the foul and gaining that reward was the explicit reason for fouling. The reason futbol can be officiated differently from basketball is because futbol has Laws and basketball has rules. The futbol referee doesn't judge events solely by the book, but also by their effect on the Spirit of the Game. The duplicate post heuristic exists to prevent problems and maintain the general enjoyment of HN. It's not there to encourage lawyering up and arguing a case, because that's nothing but a headache. If this is seriously likely to affect you, act on the side of caution. Act as if the rules were explicit and restrictive and the punishments severe. In other words don't try to get away with something, and if you do, don't complain if something unpleasant results. As Thomas Hobbes theorized, the sovereign's sole responsibility is to do whatever is necessary to keep the peace and we cede some of our autonomy for the sake of that peace. It ain't a democracy. [BTW: user 'dang' is the HN moderator]