Ask HN: Trying to find an old HN post, failing at search

#1

Post by xbkandxe » Sun, Aug 04, 2024, 11:19 PM UTC

Hey all…been trying desperately on and off for weeks to find something I could've sworn was posted to HN. It was someone showing off their incredibly minimal bare git repo site, basically. Think cgit but even more basic.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Ask HN: Trying to find an old HN post, failing at search

#2

Post by xbkandxe » Sun, Aug 04, 2024, 11:32 PM UTC

Can't edit my post now…but I'm _pretty_ sure it was just HTML/CSS/JS, no running code anywhere. Could be wrong.

Re: Ask HN: Trying to find an old HN post, failing at search

#3

Post by Nextgrid » Mon, Aug 05, 2024, 12:32 AM UTC

Shot in the dark but Sourcehut? It fits the minimal theme.

Re: Ask HN: Trying to find an old HN post, failing at search

#4

Post by pestatije » Mon, Aug 05, 2024, 1:21 AM UTC

this is really intriguing to me...do you not have browser history? i could tell you each and every single webpage ive been to in the last years

Re: Ask HN: Trying to find an old HN post, failing at search

#5

Post by realityfactchex » Mon, Aug 05, 2024, 1:33 AM UTC

Might help for you to describe anything that was on their bare site

Re: Ask HN: Trying to find an old HN post, failing at search

#6

Post by distalx » Mon, Aug 05, 2024, 1:35 AM UTC

Hey, I know the feeling! It can be frustrating when we can't find something we're sure we saw on HN.

When default search failed me in the past, I've had some luck with experimental search projects that people have created. I'm sharing them hoping one might help you find what you're looking for:

* [Vectara](https://search-hackernews.vercel.app/) * [Hacker Search](https://hackersearch.net/) * [HN Discussion Search](https://searchhacker.news/) * [Hacker News Search](https://hn.lixiasearch.com/) * [DeepHN](https://deephn.org/)

Give them a try and see if any of these tools can help you track down the post you're looking for. Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Trying to find an old HN post, failing at search

#7

Post by akeck » Mon, Aug 05, 2024, 2:14 AM UTC

Is it any of these?

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=pastYear&page=0&prefix=fal...

Re: Ask HN: Trying to find an old HN post, failing at search

#8

Post by aaron695 » Mon, Aug 05, 2024, 2:38 AM UTC

rgit - https://git.inept.dev/~doyle/rgit.git/about

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32213671

Re: Ask HN: Trying to find an old HN post, failing at search

#9

Post by terrycody » Mon, Aug 05, 2024, 3:22 AM UTC

Sometimes, you have to use Google functions as its better for searching things, though not always.

Do you remember any keywords? Names?

Use site:ycombinator.com "keyword" on Google search, and adjust the timeline to narrow the results.

Re: Ask HN: Trying to find an old HN post, failing at search

#10

Post by LVB » Mon, Aug 05, 2024, 4:16 AM UTC

pestatije wrote: post #4

this is really intriguing to me...do you not have browser history? i could tell you each and every single webpage ive been to in the last years

Including the ones you visited on your phone, and even maybe as an in-app web view? Add to that the HN reader app I use and I’m finding a lot more escapes browser history.