New users: we'd appreciate it if you'd please read the site guidelines before commenting. Most importantly, the principle that you shouldn't say anything in a comment that you wouldn't say to someone's face.
http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
Hacker News is an experiment. We're trying to see whether by asking people to be civil we can avoid the kind of nastiness that anonymity breeds by default. The experiment has worked so far. And while the new users may not realize it, this is why they're here. People like it here because one can have a civil conversation.
The principle that you shouldn't say things you wouldn't say to someone's face means you can't express yourself the way you might be used to doing on Reddit or Slashdot. This, for example, would not stand out on either of those sites,
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=459250
but it's not cool here.