HN could fix this trivially. It's been requested numerous times. They refuse. For years.
Sigh.
Sigh.
However, the generally accepted quote syntax on HN does not use code blocks in the first place.
> *Quote goes here*Some users don't, there is no one unambiguously correct method, and the 2nd- most common variant I see has several obvious detriments.
The fact that the "show us your code" feature seems to be predominantly used for blockquotes, on a generally technological site, strongly suggests a failure to correctly match user expectations and needs.
Though as metacommentary in infotech, SV, and YC, the message couldn't be clearer.
Seems more likely that it's a lack of instruction on the comment page. Discord manages to fit all of its formatting into the whitespace under the chat input....
Format your posts appropriately - that's the sole burden of the writer, no one else's.
Don't blame the user.
I don't think the major problem is that `/^ {4}/` lines don't wrap in a way that's useful for quotes; it's that there's no way to format quotes so people use the only formatting element HN has.
Technically, HN has a couple other formatting elements.
It is a standing convention to use the following syntax for quotes here:
> *Quote text here* pre { whitespace: pre-wrap; }
That's what I've included in my own HN Stylus stylesheet for years. Works on Desktop or Firefox/Android, but other mobile browsers don't support it, for lack of extension support.
Updating the HN markup to offer true blockquote support would be a more complete, though less trivial, solution.
I've suggested the first myself repeatedly.
pg asked how to fix this, and was given the solution, on HN, nine years ago:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=592603
The suggestion's been made numerous times:
https://hn.algolia.com/?query=whitespace%20pre-wrap&sort=byP...