Open for everyone • Hacker News Board

Re: Open for everyone

#201

Post by tlogan » Tue, Jan 28, 2014, 10:41 PM UTC

DigitalSea wrote: post #119

Dustin is a little too late on this one. Medium came along and scooped up whatever chance Svbtle had of becoming accepted by the masses. It should have been open from the start, Dustin's elitist attitude got in the way and I think it's only a matter of time before Svbtle dies.

I don't know Dustin but I know about him only by reading his posts. Given that, I have no reason to believe that he is elitist.

"Invitation only" model sometime works and kudos for him for trying that. This was just a way how to make something different in very very crowded space. It did not work, so he is trying "plan B".

What is wrong with that? He is just trying to make something and we are here putting him down? Why not some encouragements?

Re: Open for everyone

#202

Post by lucian1900 » Tue, Jan 28, 2014, 10:46 PM UTC

Touche wrote: post #168

lucian1900 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It restricts Medium to people with Twitter accounts. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone has one.

You can get them for free, using a throwaway email and fake identity if wanted. Why is it preferable to get a Medium account?

Because you'd have to deal with one less party (trust, security, reliability, support).

If you aren't already a Twitter user, it's simpler to have the option of making a Medium account.

Re: Open for everyone

#203

Post by js2 » Tue, Jan 28, 2014, 10:52 PM UTC

zem wrote: post #164

js2 wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it stinks of haters gonna hate. The personal attack on Dustin is completely uncalled for. It makes me sad that it's the top-voted comment.

there is a little bit of that, perhaps, but consider: from the OP we have > Until now, we’ve been an exclusive platform open only to approved users. We took this initial approach because we wanted to ensure that the software worked, first of all, and that the platform was seeded with great content by seasoned and experienced authors. but if you remember the original svbtle announcement, that is disingenuous. dustin d…

Words matter. The original commenter could have said the same thing without the hostility. Consider: "Dustin really hurt Svbtle's chances of becoming a popular platform by originally restricting access. Especially since Medium launched, success for Svbtle will be difficult." But perhaps the point was to attack Dustin, not have a civil conversation. $0.02.

Re: Open for everyone

#204

Post by gone35 » Tue, Jan 28, 2014, 10:59 PM UTC

XERQ wrote: post #194

The level of dismissiveness I'm seeing in the comments here is really discouraging, and I'm disappointed to be a part of this community. In a community of startup founders fostering new ideas, I haven't seen such close-mindedness. I appreciate what dcurtis is trying to do, doesn't matter if I agree with it or not. The kudos concept is different, the fact that people are writing him emails and tweets about decrementin…

It's conscientiousness, not close-mindedness.

If you find petty that people complain about non-intended kudos, by the same logic you should also find petty to have introduced such a pointless anti-pattern in the first place.

Besides, kudos are not that different from karma points or likes. Knowingly adulterating such a crucial signaling component of an online community is short-sighted and needlessly detrimental.

Re: Open for everyone

#205

Post by na85 » Tue, Jan 28, 2014, 11:03 PM UTC

anologwintermut wrote: post #192

na85 wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you pick software based on your opinion of the attitude of the authors, rather than its actual qualities, you're going to make a lot of mistakes. Disagree. I don't like the way Microsoft does business, and I think Steve Ballmer is an egotistical prick, so I don't buy their products. I don't use Windows on my devices (including phone), I don't use Skype, I don't own an xbox and therefore I don't use xbox live, etc…

Do you use GNU/Linux or OSX? Good luck claim Steve Jobs or RMS isn't a dick.

I think Steve Jobs was a prick too.

I don't know much at all about RMS, but I will agree that Linus is a jerk.

The difference of course is that Linus doesn't head a company that engages in predatory business practices, ships spyware and DRM (malware) in its operating systems, etc.

So I can overlook the fact that Linus occasionally says mean things to people over the internet. I don't think Linus has ever thrown a chair across his office when someone wanted to leave Linux. Can't say the same for Ballmer, who has very real personality issues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR-P6HPZgMs

---

Finally, I know that this comments+karma format encourages extreme pedantry so let me pre-empt you:

The fact that I choose not to use Microsoft products because I don't like Microsoft or Ballmer doesn't mean I am required to abstain from ALL products whose authors have engaged in behaviour I don't like.

More often than not it's a "lesser of $num evils" situation.

Re: Open for everyone

#206

Post by Mz » Tue, Jan 28, 2014, 11:05 PM UTC

XERQ wrote: post #194

The level of dismissiveness I'm seeing in the comments here is really discouraging, and I'm disappointed to be a part of this community. In a community of startup founders fostering new ideas, I haven't seen such close-mindedness. I appreciate what dcurtis is trying to do, doesn't matter if I agree with it or not. The kudos concept is different, the fact that people are writing him emails and tweets about decrementin…

Humans are social creatures and the dismissiveness might be in part due to Dustin Curtis having some rather negative PR on HN in his not too distant past and, being young and brash, he didn't exactly handle it with aplomb. I tangled with him at the time. It was a pretty not nice scene. I have not really followed him/his story since, but most people do a pretty poor job of recovering from such incidents, which tend to continue to haunt them. There are ways to live such things down but many people just do not know how.

So perhaps the dismissiveness is primarily proof that HN is populated largely by humans, with all their usual tendencies, not 'bots nor aliens.

Re: Open for everyone

#207

Post by read » Tue, Jan 28, 2014, 11:12 PM UTC

the core of what writing is really about–sharing ideas, naturally

This sentence might not be true. Writing is partly about sharing ideas and partly about discovering them. In an essay at least, most of the ideas reveal themselves after you start writing. And half of those you start with turn out to be wrong. So you want to keep writing until you bump onto the right ones. It's figuring out the truth you're after. Sharing something untrue isn't as valuable.

If you had a writing tool good at getting you to share and one good at getting you to write, the latter could be a better tool.

That's not to say Svbtle does a bad job at getting you to write. But the distinction is important enough for any writing tool to consider.

Re: Open for everyone

#208

Post by jessaustin » Tue, Jan 28, 2014, 11:17 PM UTC

anologwintermut wrote: post #192

na85 wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you pick software based on your opinion of the attitude of the authors, rather than its actual qualities, you're going to make a lot of mistakes. Disagree. I don't like the way Microsoft does business, and I think Steve Ballmer is an egotistical prick, so I don't buy their products. I don't use Windows on my devices (including phone), I don't use Skype, I don't own an xbox and therefore I don't use xbox live, etc…

Do you use GNU/Linux or OSX? Good luck claim Steve Jobs or RMS isn't a dick.

RMS is not "a dick". He is misunderstood by cretins. There is a difference.

Re: Open for everyone

#209

Post by jack-r-abbit » Tue, Jan 28, 2014, 11:19 PM UTC

vph wrote: post #70

I hate blogs without dates. A good blog article is dated properly when it was created and revised. If you want to promote a new blog platform, better date your blogs properly.

FWIW, it looks like if you hover over a post's title, the date appears to the far left of it. But as a consumer, I don't really like it when software/sites make me discover on my own how to use it, particularly when they deviate from the norm.

Re: Open for everyone

#210

Post by thinkpad20 » Tue, Jan 28, 2014, 11:19 PM UTC

na85 wrote: post #189

pg wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you pick software based on your opinion of the attitude of the authors, rather than its actual qualities, you're going to make a lot of mistakes. Do you have any opinion about Svbtle itself, incidentally? Have you tried using it? What do you feel are its advantages and disadvantages compared to Medium?

>If you pick software based on your opinion of the attitude of the authors, rather than its actual qualities, you're going to make a lot of mistakes. Disagree. I don't like the way Microsoft does business, and I think Steve Ballmer is an egotistical prick, so I don't buy their products. I don't use Windows on my devices (including phone), I don't use Skype, I don't own an xbox and therefore I don't use xbox live, etc…

I think there are many better reasons than those to base your decision on what to use or not to use. To each their own, of course, but it would take a really strong, personal dislike of someone for that dislike to prevent me from using quality products (not saying that MS's products are or aren't quality). And not knowing any of the people involved personally, I can't really form such a strong personal judgment.