Go-hn: command line client for Hacker News, written in Go | Hacker News Reader

Go-hn: command line client for Hacker News, written in Go

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82 pointsr3bl41 comments

Here's one in Python, for those who want choices: https://github.com/donnemartin/haxor-news

Wow, Golang again!

Let me show my web client for hacker news http://hackernewsroom.com built with Golang too.

Why does it need phantomjs? There is an official HN api that can be used. If it uses phantomjs why not just use lynx/links/links2?

He did it as a quick hack, I imagine he just didn't notice the API

But there are dozens of quick hacks like that on the internet. I have 4 similar things on my github account. Nothing special about them. I never though there might be any need to put that on a HN.

  Nothing special about them. I never though there might be any need to put that on a HN.

Apparently they are special enough to get more upvotes than other stuff. Maybe you should reconsider submitting one of your hacks. :)

My (quick) reading of the API doesn't mention upvotes (since it's a data-dump to Firebase). This go-hn hack includes logging in and upvoting, which is a nice feature.

I like that this is posted on Gitlab, even if GL interface needs work when I compare it to Github, at least it's not GH (in an era where all open-s0urce code is on GH). Diversity is inspiring to me!

I wouldn't say it needs work. It's just... different. We got so used to GitHub that we kind of expect other projects to just copy its design. GitLab is not doing that and I respect it. Who cares if I need one more click to see the files in the repo?

Thanks! We're open to improvements but the default view will probably stay the same. If you want you can change the default project view http://i.imgur.com/mlkPInw.png

I like better the universal command line client, i.e. w3m. Pity that some websites are so strict about js.

I actually started browsing HN using Links the other day. Neither Links nor w3m really work with the comments though (they aren't properly nested). Plus points to w3m for having mouse support. I don't see go-hn supporting comments either though I haven't tried it yet).

How's this better than links? http://www.aboutlinux.info/2007/02/links2-cross-platform-con...

Better is really subjective. I like experimenting with new software and learning about the Go ecosystem. This is better than links - for me. Who knows maybe someday links will be rewritten in Go :~)

I'm going to give it a shot, hopefully it does text wrap nicely and provides a proper hierarchical view. I tried HN in all the text browsers, and those are two problems that are common to all of them. I've stuck with my preferred choice, elinks, and it does pretty well otherwise.

[edit] Oh, phantomjs... I don't want to install that on this machine. :|

Hierarchical view is a no-go, alas. Some people might view this as a feature :)

hn-cli?

Why should I care in what language it's written in?

To put that question on its head: why shouldn't you care in what language it's written?

because users of software, should be language agnostic

+1. Yet every time I use a piece of software written in a dynamically typed language, I keep asking myself: how could this be safe???

Most interested parties here are not merely users but developers. Potential contributors. Or if anything, merely curious about the inner workings.

That represents a large percentage, if not the overwhelming majority of users of HN. I'm surprised this question still comes up. It's a bit like when people ask on /r/gamedev showcases "why should I care what engine your game is built in?".

Maybe you want to learn some Go, and you're reading HN to hear about new and interesting Go projects. Maybe someone will gain a great understanding of things by reading the sources for this project, and end up doing something else creatively inspired by it.

Maybe its just a fun new way to read HN, at first, but later you think ("mm.. wish it had blah feature"), and .. being a super-shart Go developer, you remember 'ah, its in Go, I can fix this..'

The only way that it affects you it's because Go programs can be compiled to a static binary. So from the final user perspective you just download it and put the executable in your path.

Contrast with Python, Node, Ruby... apps where you have to install via Pip, NPM, Gems.

But the real answer it's that Go is in the top of the hype curve right now (I say this as a Go fan myself).

> The only way that it affects you it's because Go programs can be compiled to a static binary. So from the final user perspective you just download it and put the executable in your path.

This should apply to EVERY PROGRAM for a final user. It can be written in C, Go, Rust, PHP, compiled Ruby. Final user doesn't care what language it's written in, it shouldn't crash, should be intuitive and fast, and this can be achieved with any programming language, unless it's written in JS in Node and wrapped with Chrome, then will be lagging. Completely invalid argument for me.

This is Hacker News. I expect what's interesting about it to most people is the implementation, not the fact that this client exists.

I agree with your comment, but I want to respond to one part:

> But the real answer it's that Go is in the top of the hype curve right now (I say this as a Go fan myself).

Hype is irrelevant to the advantages of using Go. End users of Go programs benefit for technical reasons, not social ones.

> End users of Go programs benefit for technical reasons, not social ones.

I see developer benefit if they enjoy the language, but what are the benefits to the end user?

> The only way that it affects you it's because Go programs can be compiled to a static binary.

You could use Cython to create a static binary for a program written in Python.

>Contrast with Python, Node, Ruby... apps where you have to install via Pip, NPM, Gems.

This is the real winner here

In case of Go projects it means that I'll get a single binary that also runs fast and the application is available on multiple platforms. I love portable apps, so any project written in Go spikes my interest. Likewise, if it's Java project, I'm likely to skip that.

Well... Java is more portable than Go.

I always make sure to check the technology behind the software I am about to use. This gives me a rough idea of how safe it is, how it works and how comfortable I am into hacking the source if needed.

Do you refuse to use programs written in C?

No, and that would be funny.

I generally do not objectively refuse to use something solely based on the technology behind it, but it is an important aspect to consider in the big picture while evaluating the alternatives and the actual necessity of it.

If you are just a user, and it's a binary, I'd say there's no compelling reason you should.

If you are a developer, you might want to know if you can easily make local changes, you might be interested in contributing, or you might just be interested in seeing how the internals work.

>If you are a developer, you might want to know if you can easily make local changes

Not programming language decides it, but license application is on.

The language matters in so much that not everyone can program in every language and not every language is equally easy nor fun to hack in.

Yeah, let me just roll out some cool Apache-licensed projects in COBOL and see how many pull requests I get.

Given the way you've phrased that, I'm going to assume it's rhetorical and that you don't care. However some people do care, which is why some people include the language name in the title.

Personally I enjoy reading other people's code. Sometimes it inspires me, sometimes it educates me, and sometimes it just frustrates me - though thankfully that's less common than the former two. If a Show HN was written in a language I can't program in nor have any interest in learning, then there's little point in me reading the code.

Other people will have their own reasons for caring about the language. Those reasons might not matter to you but I'm sure it matters to them.

Another reason to care, is that language often effects what the implementation is going to be like. Ie, if this was NodeJS, it would likely require i have Node installed. If it's a binary language, there's a good chance it has no runtime dependencies, or possibly just some lib deps.

edit: Looks like this same argument has been made plenty of times :)

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