4 ms·

The name of this is site is "Hacker News". That would necessarily imply a site that encourages people to post things that are maybe off the beaten path.

by hvs 11y ago

jacques_chester 11y ago
"I wrote something in Go" is not off the beaten path for this site. Before that "I wrote a thing in Haskell", before that "I wrote a thing in Common Lisp".
- true_religion 11y ago
  So your complaint boils down to HN is so far 'off to the side of mainstream, that X,Y,Z is common here so we ought to post A,B,C because thats even more uncommon'.
  - learc83 11y ago
    I think his complain is that hacker news gets a bit cargo culty with trendy languages. It doesn't really matter how novel, interesting, or well-constructed the project is, if it's implemented in whatever language is popular at the time, it has a good chance of making it to the front page.
    - Gigablah 11y ago
      This is how sites with an upvote button work.
melted 11y ago
Rewriting something in some hipster language du jour is not a newsworthy event. Writing yet another blog platform (there must be thousands by now), let alone a "minimal" one, is not a newsworthy event. This froth just pollutes the stream. I've been reading this site for years, but "I wrote X in obscure language Y" garbage finally made me register. It's not the tools you have, it's what you do with the tools you have.
- dang 11y ago
  I don't think the claim with such posts is that they're newsworthy, just that they're fun or interesting (for some). It's better for the emotional aspect of technical work to be out in the open, instead of rationalizing itself surreptitiously, as it usually has to—leading to such unproductive phenomena as (a) the sober engineering analysis that just happens to conclude that the best choice for X is programmer's favorite; and (b) the intellectual depression that comes from prolonged working with tools that give one no pleasure. "There is no play in them," as Thoreau said. The need for play is deep and should be accommodated, since it affects things whether we want it to or not. I think if one revises one's model of software economics to include this factor then the yet-another projects you're criticizing come out looking pretty different. Also the HN connection is clear—this is a site where gratifying curiosity and creative impulses is celebrated. No justification required. But I'm glad you've registered anyhow. Hopefully you'll discuss some of the things that gratify you!

The name of this is site is "Hacker News". That would necessarily imply a site that encourages people to post things that are maybe off the beaten path.

by hvs 11y ago

The name of this is site is "Hacker News". That would necessarily imply a site that encourages people to post things that are maybe off the beaten path.

jacques_chester 11y ago

"I wrote something in Go" is not off the beaten path for this site. Before that "I wrote a thing in Haskell", before that "I wrote a thing in Common Lisp".

true_religion 11y ago
So your complaint boils down to HN is so far 'off to the side of mainstream, that X,Y,Z is common here so we ought to post A,B,C because thats even more uncommon'.
- learc83 11y ago
  I think his complain is that hacker news gets a bit cargo culty with trendy languages. It doesn't really matter how novel, interesting, or well-constructed the project is, if it's implemented in whatever language is popular at the time, it has a good chance of making it to the front page.
  - Gigablah 11y ago
    This is how sites with an upvote button work.

melted 11y ago

Rewriting something in some hipster language du jour is not a newsworthy event. Writing yet another blog platform (there must be thousands by now), let alone a "minimal" one, is not a newsworthy event. This froth just pollutes the stream. I've been reading this site for years, but "I wrote X in obscure language Y" garbage finally made me register. It's not the tools you have, it's what you do with the tools you have.

dang 11y ago
I don't think the claim with such posts is that they're newsworthy, just that they're fun or interesting (for some). It's better for the emotional aspect of technical work to be out in the open, instead of rationalizing itself surreptitiously, as it usually has to—leading to such unproductive phenomena as (a) the sober engineering analysis that just happens to conclude that the best choice for X is programmer's favorite; and (b) the intellectual depression that comes from prolonged working with tools that give one no pleasure. "There is no play in them," as Thoreau said. The need for play is deep and should be accommodated, since it affects things whether we want it to or not. I think if one revises one's model of software economics to include this factor then the yet-another projects you're criticizing come out looking pretty different. Also the HN connection is clear—this is a site where gratifying curiosity and creative impulses is celebrated. No justification required. But I'm glad you've registered anyhow. Hopefully you'll discuss some of the things that gratify you!