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Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

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Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#61

Post by zaidf »

adriand wrote: post #49
nir wrote: post #42

%99 of the time, Joel-style posts about programming in general are a boring rehash of ideas already expressed better before (often by Joel himself). Same goes for "10 things every start up should know" etc. They're great for HN karma, poor as reading material. Blog posts about actual programming, as in "here's how I implemented x" are almost always a great read, and if they are really good they will sustain their val…

I agree 100%. There's a million posts by people (like Mark Cuban for example) full of the same old boring crap: "maintain good communication", "don't spend money on swag / unnecessary items / etc.", blah blah blah. If generalized advice actually worked for human beings, the entire human race would probably be a lot better off. In practice, I find it hard to believe that anyone takes these lists of dos and don'ts and…

I disagree. I think the repetition is critical, at least for me, simply because I tend to apply more of messages I recieve again and again. On paper what you say makes sense(repetitive content = noise) but in practice there's still value in repeating certain messages.

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#63

Post by kalid »

patio11 wrote: post #57
pg wrote: post #41

I think it's just as well not to allow comments on one's site. If someone wants to say something about something you've written, they can say it on their own blog or on Twitter. When it's something of theirs they're writing on instead of something of yours, they think twice before being jerks: most people won't create a whole blog post just to make a trollish comment, and someone whose Twitter stream is a series of n…

You know the "send in the puppet" trick for dealing with abusive customers? (Pretend the customer is talking to a puppet, your only job is to manipulate the puppet such that the customer and the business reach a mutually satisfactory conclusion. If the customer curses a blue streak at the puppet, no biggie, the puppet doesn't care.) If you feel like comment threads are getting you down, send in the puppet. Hah, silly…

Thanks for posting that tidbit -- it's a nice way to separate yourself from the conversation. Really, we shouldn't feel attached to what we write (we are not our works) but it's difficult to fight that part of human nature. I think this is a clever, practical antidote.

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#64

Post by pg »

philk wrote: post #44
pg wrote: post #41

I think it's just as well not to allow comments on one's site. If someone wants to say something about something you've written, they can say it on their own blog or on Twitter. When it's something of theirs they're writing on instead of something of yours, they think twice before being jerks: most people won't create a whole blog post just to make a trollish comment, and someone whose Twitter stream is a series of n…

The correct solution is just to ignore them. Sure, they're saying nasty things about you, but no-one's saying anything about them at all.

It's hard to leave a mischaracterization of your ideas unanswered on a forum where people know you participate. I don't worry what people say about me on other sites, because I don't even know what they're saying. But here I do know, and everyone knows I know. Which means in effect someone can call me out here, by phrasing a comment in such a way that if I don't respond it seems like it's because I have no response to make.

I think perhaps getting rid of points will mitigate this problem though.

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#65

Post by nostrademons »

pg wrote: post #64
philk wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The correct solution is just to ignore them. Sure, they're saying nasty things about you, but no-one's saying anything about them at all.

It's hard to leave a mischaracterization of your ideas unanswered on a forum where people know you participate. I don't worry what people say about me on other sites, because I don't even know what they're saying. But here I do know, and everyone knows I know. Which means in effect someone can call me out here, by phrasing a comment in such a way that if I don't respond it seems like it's because I have no response t…

http://xkcd.com/386/

It'd be nice if people recognized that sometimes when folks don't respond, it's because they have better things to do, and not because they agree with what's being said.

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#66

Post by jjs »

pg wrote: post #41

I think it's just as well not to allow comments on one's site. If someone wants to say something about something you've written, they can say it on their own blog or on Twitter. When it's something of theirs they're writing on instead of something of yours, they think twice before being jerks: most people won't create a whole blog post just to make a trollish comment, and someone whose Twitter stream is a series of n…

Perhaps you simply need to better enforce the HN Guidelines: Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face to face conversation.

If someone posts something that you strongly suspect they wouldn't say in person, suspend their account until either (a) they verifiably attach their real name to it, demonstrating their willingness to say it without the cloak of pseudonymity; or (b) they retract the offending post.

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#67

Post by pg »

tsally wrote: post #58
pg wrote: post #41

I think it's just as well not to allow comments on one's site. If someone wants to say something about something you've written, they can say it on their own blog or on Twitter. When it's something of theirs they're writing on instead of something of yours, they think twice before being jerks: most people won't create a whole blog post just to make a trollish comment, and someone whose Twitter stream is a series of n…

Can't you just have the YC alumni ban or temp ban people from HN when they post nasty comments? Seems like you accomplish two goals: (1) You don't have to read nasty comments about your writing and (2) you help slow the decline of HN. If it's a site wide policy and someone other than you is doing it, you'll probably be able to avoid accusations of censorship. Of course, that only works if the comment falls into the o…

Actually what I've been thinking of doing is have the users do that, by flagging comments for incivility. I haven't decided yet exactly what to do, but I'm ready to try something, because it is a sitewide problem. As we get more users, I'm seeing more comments that are nasty or fluff (or both).

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#68

Post by patio11 »

pg wrote: post #64
philk wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The correct solution is just to ignore them. Sure, they're saying nasty things about you, but no-one's saying anything about them at all.

It's hard to leave a mischaracterization of your ideas unanswered on a forum where people know you participate. I don't worry what people say about me on other sites, because I don't even know what they're saying. But here I do know, and everyone knows I know. Which means in effect someone can call me out here, by phrasing a comment in such a way that if I don't respond it seems like it's because I have no response t…

On the theory that a little absurdity helps keep everything in perspective:

The problem is you think that you know that people know that you know that somebody thinks you don't know what you're talking about, but you don't know that people know that you know that somebody thinks you don't know what you're talking about, and in fact it is quite possible that people think that you know that they know that you know what you're talking about, so if you just thought that people think that you know that they know that you know what you're talking about, then it wouldn't matter if they think that you know that they know that you know what you're talking about at all, which has the side effect of mooting whether they know that you know that somebody thinks you don't know what you're talking about.

Oof, my parser just blew the stack. Short version: you're well-liked here and have objectively extant accomplishments elsewhere (presumably a source of more happiness than the aggregate opinion of the HN community). The existence of people who disagree with you does not diminish either your general well-likedness or your other accomplishments. Don't worry about them -- the rest of us certainly don't.

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#69

Post by [deleted] »

pg wrote: post #41

I think it's just as well not to allow comments on one's site. If someone wants to say something about something you've written, they can say it on their own blog or on Twitter. When it's something of theirs they're writing on instead of something of yours, they think twice before being jerks: most people won't create a whole blog post just to make a trollish comment, and someone whose Twitter stream is a series of n…

[deleted]

Re: Why I don't write about programming and why it's not really worthwhile to do so

#70

Post by philk »

pg wrote: post #64
philk wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The correct solution is just to ignore them. Sure, they're saying nasty things about you, but no-one's saying anything about them at all.

It's hard to leave a mischaracterization of your ideas unanswered on a forum where people know you participate. I don't worry what people say about me on other sites, because I don't even know what they're saying. But here I do know, and everyone knows I know. Which means in effect someone can call me out here, by phrasing a comment in such a way that if I don't respond it seems like it's because I have no response t…

Sure, but if you respond there are two categories of people:

a) People who generally like you and your essays, who will continue to agree with you, and

b) People who don't like you or your essays, who will take it as further evidence that you don't know what you're talking about.

and by replying you're just making the people from category b) post more.

But here I do know, and everyone knows I know

Not really. There's no "this post was read by pg" flag next to it. If you don't reply, at worst people will think you just couldn't be bothered to respond, which isn't a bad thing.

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