Hacker News Reader

Comment by webkike | Hacker News Reader

> I am quite sure that you do not know what Plan-9 is and that, probably, you never have heard of it too.

Right off the bat with a failed assumption. Of course I know what Plan 9 is, I've used it lots. Why make this assumption? Just say "most people" and you've already hedged your bets.

View on HN

That just means that you, I, and other knowledgeable people are not the target audience, and he intends for it to be read by people who do not have the context to disagree with his just-so story for why Plan 9 failed, which coincidentally includes a business principle.

And my interpretation of his thesis boils down to: Don’t scratch your own itch. Fine. I have my own explanation for why Plan 9 failed, and there are lots of reasons you can invent, based on hindsight and your own biases.

If you already know you aren't the target for someone's writing, and you could figure out what it meant anyway, why bother complaining about it? It's a rhetorical device, not a declaration of fact. Read like a human, not a computer, and you might enjoy life a lot more.

Oh please, it's a poor use of rhetoric, and calling that out doesn't mean that you are somehow a robotic emotionless monster.

I think hyperbole is a fine use of rhetoric. And I think "read like a human, not a computer" is not talking about a computer's lack of emotion, but its need for precision and order. In contrast to human adaptability.

Thank you, that is what I intended.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com