Hacker News Reader

Comment by supperburg | Hacker News Reader

1: how are hosting costs paid for?

2: how many people need to get hit by a bus to bring it down?

Yes, it is fragile and precarious and transient. Why would you delude yourself? I think your emotions are clouding your logical faculties. If Dan G got hit by a bus I know for a fact there is nobody who could replace him.

To serf

That’s a very elegant observation. When I imagine hacker news shutting down I can only think of the massive implications it would have for my life and I imagine feeling scared because it’s like a part of me is gone. It would be a massive thing and I’m not sure everyone like me realizes it. I’m working on a replacement now even if that’s insane and impossible.

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1. Hosting costs are paid by Ycombinator, in exchange Ycombinator alumni can see each other(orange names I think), there are job ads for Ycombinator companies and launch threads for Ycombinator companies. dang talks about it often.

2. I think there are two active moderators, that also work on the software side. I have no idea if they are the only people that can do this job or the best in a long list of candidates, so it's hard to answer that question.

> If Dan G got hit by a bus I know for a fact there is nobody who could replace him.

I think that too, and that makes his presence and contributions all the more valuable to me. In a way, the fact that you care deeply about this place shows how special it is. I think that as long as there are people like dang and you around, HN or its spirit will find a way.

> 1: how are hosting costs paid for?

This site is literally owned and operated by billionaires. Sam Altman could fund it with the change under his couch cushions.

>2: how many people need to get hit by a bus to bring it down?

Certainly more than one. Dang isn't even the only moderator.

>If Dan G got hit by a bus I know for a fact there is nobody who could replace him.

See point 2.

>When I imagine hacker news shutting down I can only think of the massive implications it would have for my life and I imagine feeling scared because it’s like a part of me is gone. It would be a massive thing and I’m not sure everyone like me realizes it.

This is just an internet forum. Most people are just here to waste time, and in the grand scheme of things, even within the tech industry, it isn't that important. The degree of emotional dependency and instability you're displaying here is unhealthy.

I can't reply to the rest of your replies due to karma bombing, but I wanted to point out : Many beautiful things are fleeting, and many of those beauties exist exactly due to their ephemeral transient nature.

I've never thought of HN as one of those 'beautiful and fragile' things, especially after over a decade -- maybe I will once it's gone -- I simply want to point out that some of the world's most beautiful things are in-fact 'precarious and transient' , and that makes them no less spectacular.

Happy holidays, everyone.

> This isn’t the fucking Disney channel, there’s no rule where I have to be jolly.

This made me laugh out loud, thanks for that. I wonder what rules your posts were breaking for it to be flagged?

It's true, there isn't a rule to be jolly, and I think you raise good points about the bus factor. What would happen if dang went away? Is there any universe where we can solve this bus factor such that it's decentralized or its capability grows naturally to another person?

For what it's worth, my last question might as well be rhetorical because Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc. still hasn't solved moderation at scale, despite the vast pool of resources.

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