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I'm not against what you're saying w.r.t it being a place to show code and interesting not-for-profit projects, but we can't force Show HN to be that and only that. Forcing an open-source only culture on Show HN is no better than startups/SV forcing a for-profit culture on Show HN. I think we're better off with an open place that's balanced and healthy.

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That's a fair point.

At the very least, though, I think users be able to do something with a Show HN submission besides just sign up for the beta. There should be content worth building a discussion around, even if it's just a mockup or preview of features.

HN agrees with you. The rules try to address that.

> Show HN is for something you've made that other people can play with.

> If your work isn't ready for people to try out yet, please don't put "Show HN" in the title.

> For example, blog posts, sign-up pages, and fundraisers can't be tried out, so they don't count as Show HNs.

https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html

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