No. I mean, lobste.rs is a complete working open source system that provides link sharing and discussion of said links, and is objectively better than HN’s functionality. Why didn’t you just install a copy of it?
Wow, to be honest we had no idea that it even existed. Thank you for the info, I imagine the idea was cloning: https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters and setting up with DataTau domain and custom .css to make it feel like HN
I've been looking for a good HN-type OSS for a long time. There have been a number of clones on Github but seem unreliable or unmaintained. Surprisingly, this is the first I've heard of lobsters, and it looks great. I really wish the project description actually contained the words "Hacker News" or even "Reddit" and "board/discussion board" so that people could actually find the project when searching for it!
Then I’d suggest you need to pay more attention to the meta discussions on HN.
Sanctioned downvote misuse creating an echo chamber has always been a huge complaint.
For the case in hand it doesn’t even matter: HN is not open source, you can’t install it yourself so you can’t expect to mirror the algorithms for ranking etc.
So, by that logic if I make a desktop window manager that looks just like Windows, Windows is then Open Source?
I mean, really, what kind of argument is this? X builds a thing. Y copies the appearance of X's thing. An employee of X then claims that is evidence of X being open source.
If you want to refute my claim, where is the source code for HN?
One of these years we'll release an update that incorporates how HN has evolved over the years. But we have several other projects to get out first. Also we wouldn't do it without pg's blessing.
Sanctioned downvote misuse creating an echo chamber has always been a huge complaint.
That actually doesn't fit with my experience at all. I've been here nearly 10 years. (I mean it actually being an echo chamber. I'm aware people complain it is.)
I have a lobsters account. I don't spend much time there. I was collaborating with someone on an HN clone when I joined lobsters.
We talked a bit about some of the features on lobsters and whether or not to incorporate them into our site.
We had already added a tagging system.
The fact that you like lobsters better than HN is not some kind of objective measurement.
I'm not adequately knowledgeable to give my own list or rebut your opinion, nor am I trying to start drama. I'm genuinely curious as to how the two compare in some meaningful way, beyond your short blurb, which boils down being to your opinion.
In the interest of not derailing this discussion further, if anyone knows of a good write up, please let me know. My email is in my profile.
You are awfully quick to cuss at someone for merely having a difference of opinion about something that could be viewed as trivial in the grand scheme of things.
Ironic given that you are decrying the evils of a forum supposedly becoming an echo chamber.
I appear to be the only woman to have ever spent time on the HN leader board.
I spent nearly six years homeless and was an active participant here during that time. I was quite open about being homeless.
I'm firmly against UBI when UBI is a fairly popular idea around here.
I'm critical of what I frame the "pro vax" crowd, which is a highly controversial position.
I've been thrown off of multiple forums or simply left because it wasn't productive.
Although I have a lobsters account, I barely spend any time there in part because of the gestapo like inquiry from the moderating staff concerning why the hell I had joined given that I don't yet know how to code. The moderating staff made it quite clear my nefarious interest in a coding forum as a non programmer combined with "unusual behavior" -- probably largely rooted in being a demographic outlier -- meant they absolutely had their eye on me.
This made me feel distinctly uncomfortable in a way I have never felt on HN. It also suggests a dramatically lower tolerance for social differences than HN has.
Your view of HN vs Lobsters and mine aren't remotely on the same page. And cussing at me about how you have logic on your side utterly fails to overturn the weight of my first-hand experience with both forums.
> You are awfully quick to cuss at someone for merely having a difference of opinion about something that could be viewed as trivial in the grand scheme of things.
I didn't swear because you have a different opinion. I swore because "well I don't think it is" is not a valid response to the logic posted.
> Ironic given that you are decrying the evils of a forum supposedly becoming an echo chamber.
I didn't silence you, or hide your comment from others. Please learn what irony is.
> I, I, I, <snip>
How is any of that relevant. Please discuss the facts. How you or I or the neighbours dog live is irrelevant.
> Although I have a lobsters account, I barely spend any time there in part because of the gestapo like inquiry from the moderating staff concerning why the hell I had joined given that I don't yet know how to code. The moderating staff made it quite clear my nefarious interest in a coding forum as a non programmer combined with "unusual behavior" -- probably largely rooted in being a demographic outlier -- meant they absolutely had their eye on me.
Given that Lobste.rs makes moderation actions public, please provide some references.
> how you have logic on your side utterly fails to overturn the weight of my first-hand experience with both forums.
Lets cut straight to the facts:
HN approves and agrees with "downvote to show disagreement". Fact.
HN by-default completely hides, and even with that option off, uses styling to reduce readability of any comment that is down voted. Fact.
Lobste.rs requires an actual reason to downvote, specifically to counter the type of things that occur on HN and other sites with similar features. Fact.
Lobste.rs does not "hide" down voted comments.
So please, tell me again how your anecdotal evidence is more relevant than the simple logic of how each site is designed to function?
Crossing into personal attack will get you banned here, regardless of how you feel about HN. You've unfortunately done this repeatedly and we've had to warn you repeatedly in the past.
Would you mind reviewing the site guidelines and using this site as intended while you're here, even if it isn't your favorite?
After I declined to publicly answer his overly personal inquiry, pushcx messaged me the following:
Hey Doreen,
After chatting with you about the text on the invite page I’m curious, what brought you to Lobsters? I can’t imagine it being especially interesting to people who aren’t developers or sysadmins. Why did you want to sign up and participate, what does Lobsters have that’s interesting to you?
It is, of course, extremely superficially polite. Except he asked me a question publicly. I declined to answer his personal question publicly. So he publicly stated that I was welcome to message him privately about it. I said no thanks, I'm good and then he messaged me privately.
So, in, other words, it wasn't an invitation. I wasn't allowed to decline to discuss it with him. I was actually required to answer his invasive questions.
But, in short, social issues are people problems and tech is merely a tool. Tech doesn't per se solve social problems. That's not actually how that works.
(In case it actually needs to be said, my handle over there is Doreen.)
Wow, it derived in a meta discussion about HN/Lobste.rs.
We have been talking about implementing it, but our final decision is sticking to the original code and make it open source asap to make it better.
Our main reason is that lobste.rs is written in Rails and we would have to learn a new framework to adapt it to our needs, while Python (Django) is more extended among the Data Science practitioners (main target of DataTau and potential contributors).
An open sourced Python alternative may also be interesting for many people.
I was briefly involved with running an HN clone earlier this year. It had tagging and we talked about adding some of the features we liked from lobsters.
