TDD does work, and I use it in practice. I know a whole company full of people who all use it in practice, and it works.

I have a guess about why HN likes to upvote opinion pieces that hate on TDD. TDD initially feels like it takes discipline. It's natural to dislike things that require discipline. I think people are trying TDD, finding that it doesn't work as advertised, and gravitating towards the most pleasant explanation: that TDD sucks. They never consider the alternate explanation: you're doing it wrong.