Tenser, Said the Censor [*]
Dear Readers,
Not long ago, some of you submitted my writings to Hacker News. I recommend against doing this, if you value your reputation there.
The editors of Hacker News appear to have taken an active dislike to this site. I don't care to hazard a guess as to why. They have begun deleting any link to loper-os.org which rises too high in their automated rankings. That such a rise could take place without any subterfuge involved is beyond their ability to imagine. Anyone who submits this site to Hacker News or clicks the "up vote" for such a submission risks being regarded as a spam drone serving in my Army of Darkness. [**] I know that some of you enjoy participating in that community and would not wish such a thing to happen to you. You have been warned.
Sincerely,
-Stanislav
[*] With apologies to Alfred Bester.
[**] Anyone who can locate an advertisement, donation button, or other instrument of profit on this site shall win my entire yearly marketing budget.
Odd, since the entire hacker news community try to crawl up pg's ass for years after a few vague rants about arc being the 'future of lisp'.
PG bathes in $50M of dot-com lottery money (and subsequent interest) and is surrounded by "startup" cultists eager to plumb the philosophical depths of his every word.
I, on the other hand, am a generic crackpot. Perhaps when Loper goes alpha I can expect a promotion to the rank of charlatan.
You do have a rather strident manner of expressing your opinion, which I suppose might be off putting if one is not already sympathetic towards it. Though for me it's what makes your articles all the more enjoyable.
It's really quite simple. There is a certain class of people whose sense of self-worth springs forth from the success or failure of the objects which they celebrate. These are the kind of folks who get up in your face about it if you say that a certain sport or sport team is not worthy of your attention, or get deeply offended when you point out some kind of glaring problem with their favorite operating system (update managers that do unbidden stuff behind one's back are my current favorite target).
For these individuals, when you point out that their emperor is not only naked but is ugly too, this is a level of truth and honesty which they can't handle. You might as well have insulted their new child.
No level of attempting to be diplomatic will help, as the people in question wouldn't recognize diplomacy or real defects in a software package or development philosophy if it bit them in the ass. Fanboys in the truest sense of the word, they are only capable of attacking the messenger, so that's what they do.
My take on the situation anyway.