A pie is just for enjoy a Snack. Software is mostly for getting work done
Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
41–50 of 112 posts
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#42As others have mentioned, a pie is consumable, and thus a good one has value even if it isn't original. But a slight change to the original scenario makes asking about originality much more reasonable: Imagine you write a peach pie recipe over the weekend, and you give a copy of the recipe to your friend. They respond: "Wait, how is this different from every other peach pie recipe that's ever been written? It seems r…
I have thought about this in the context of making music as well. For me the line of thinking goes somewhat like this:
1. I value music that is a honest expression of a feeling, some sort of musical idea or whatever
2. Personally I would not usually feel satisfied with my own musical expression if I copied a thing that works for someone else
This means that I also find it unlikely that a popstars scripted appearance just happened to authentically produce expressions that just coincidentally happened to reproduce sucessful music (especially given the fact that they don't write the songs themselves usually). Additionally I apply the standards I apply to myself to others. This is something e.g. programmers are probably deeply familiar with.
Now this is a bit like in the Matrix films where Cypher betrays our heros, because he would rather enjoy his steak in the simulation than face the desert of the real. Only I believe the choice isn't really there. Either you can ignore the simulation or you're allergic to it. I could pretend I like whatever music people listen to usually, but it both bores me and makes me actively hate myself for listening to it.
Now music that is good is something else. And it doesn't even need to be a new idea or particularily complex to play. There just needs to be something within the musical expression that itself goes elsewhere.
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#43Aside from duplication there's also competition. If you bake for your family, your pie will be appreciated, regardless of its novelty. But if your pie is meant to go onto a supermarket shelf alongside other pies, you need to give the consumer an incentive to choose yours - by making it better and/or different.
Yeah, the main difference is software is accessible online so it's competing on a worldwide stage. This make people feel there's an abundance of software and they get picky. This is totally fine from economic perspective. But when it comes to side projects that aren't selling to consumers, there's no reason to bring down someone if you see no value in their work. Especially when they're sharing it for free with no ex…
> Especially when they're sharing it for free with no expectations
I doubt that most creators sharing their work as a Show HN have no expectations.
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#44I mean, recreational programming and creating a side project for fun is nice and all, but a peach pie is something you can consume and is thus of interest to anyone who likes peach pies, whereas software that does nothing differently or better than the existing (well-known) solutions is just, well, not interesting to anybody else than the person who wrote it. Kudos to you for writing a generic TODO app, but why shoul…
I think it depends on the motivation of the creator. We, software engineers, don’t celebrate enough that someone is learning the craft. “I made a thing!” Hey, nice! Lots of us have made the thing, so if you want feedback or advice, just let us know! That’s quite different from “I made a thing, and I think I can sell it.” Hey, nice! Lots of us have made the thing so there’s many on the market. What differentiates your…
I believe the common problem is when creators who submit their work on HN don’t open with what differentiates their version, thus exhibiting a lack of awareness about existing solutions. And there is a cost in attention for HN readers to figure out if there’s anything new and interesting about the work. There is an expectation that HN submissions should be worth the reader’s while.
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, the main difference is software is accessible online so it's competing on a worldwide stage. This make people feel there's an abundance of software and they get picky. This is totally fine from economic perspective. But when it comes to side projects that aren't selling to consumers, there's no reason to bring down someone if you see no value in their work. Especially when they're sharing it for free with no ex…
> Especially when they're sharing it for free with no expectations I doubt that most creators sharing their work as a Show HN have no expectations.
What are the expectations? Considering i'm specifically talking about free software often hosted on GitHub?
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it depends on the motivation of the creator. We, software engineers, don’t celebrate enough that someone is learning the craft. “I made a thing!” Hey, nice! Lots of us have made the thing, so if you want feedback or advice, just let us know! That’s quite different from “I made a thing, and I think I can sell it.” Hey, nice! Lots of us have made the thing so there’s many on the market. What differentiates your…
I believe the common problem is when creators who submit their work on HN don’t open with what differentiates their version, thus exhibiting a lack of awareness about existing solutions. And there is a cost in attention for HN readers to figure out if there’s anything new and interesting about the work. There is an expectation that HN submissions should be worth the reader’s while.
I was thinking more broadly when I wrote the comment. I agree about the tighter focus of HN.
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Especially when they're sharing it for free with no expectations I doubt that most creators sharing their work as a Show HN have no expectations.
What are the expectations? Considering i'm specifically talking about free software often hosted on GitHub?
What do you think motivates people to submit a Show HN? Typically they expect to get something out of it that they don’t get by their project just sitting on GitHub.
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I’m genuinely confused by your comment. I'm not, I get what they're saying. If I want to eat pie, I need to bake one first or find someone to bake it every time . If I want to use a software, I only need to write or find the software once; then I can keep using it indefinitely. Therefore, the common assumption is perfectly justified. Most people who write software do so to create something that isn't already availa…
> Most people who write software do so to create something that isn't already available. Well I guess we must work in a different environment because over my 13 years as a web dev I've seen people trying to reinvent the weel and coding the same thing over and over again. Just think at all infinite JS frameworks. Are they technically identical? No. Was the problem "solved" already? Probably yes. Was it not solved the…
They don't consider it technically identical. The design goal was to make something that's significantly better in some way or another. Which is very unlike pie baking.
(I'm sure there's a few frameworks made just for fun/practice but by the time you see it published I'd round that down below 10%)
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are the expectations? Considering i'm specifically talking about free software often hosted on GitHub?
What do you think motivates people to submit a Show HN? Typically they expect to get something out of it that they don’t get by their project just sitting on GitHub.
I don't know about you but I'm speaking from experience, not hypothetically. I shared multiple open source side projects where I made something for myself then shared it with the world.
> Typically they expect to get something out of it that they don’t get by their project just sitting on GitHub.
Can you expand? the vast majority of open source projects don't make a dime. I don't see the ulterior motive you're talking about. Unless you mean like they get more GitHub stars?
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
So these things are the 'what's different'. As a software example, 'ls' but written in rust. There's of course nothing wrong with re-implementing 'ls' in C with all the same patterns, and sure, that could be fun, and maybe even earn a slither of respect, but no-one is going to care about your project as something useful or interesting, quite rightly.
> So these things are the 'what's different'. If you consider those part of the recipe then I guess yes. > but no-one is going to care about your project as something useful or interesting, quite rightly. Which is totally fair and I think part of the article argues that there are situations where that's absolutely fine.
The article isn't just saying it's "absolutely fine" to make software for fun/practice, it's complaining about other people having utility-focused questions and evaluations. Assuming that "show it to your friend" is supposed to be an analogy for more general showing off, reactions like that are plenty reasonable. If it's software nobody is intended to use then that should be made clear up front.