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Comment by oh_sigh | Hacker News Reader

I don't appreciate how it seems like an elaborate ad though: Every error has a link to the paid service they're selling , with the error/exception "Enemies" list as their product

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On the contrary, I quite like how it's a very elaborate and useful ad. The link to the paid service is very discreet and the website provides real and free educational value even if you don't use their service.

Why so? This is in my book the best form of advertising. It provides anyway something useful for the interested reader, while exposing the (alleged, at least) usefulness of their services. Much better this that a banner or a pop-up in some random website that tracked you down as a Ruby developer.

I don't appreciate it either, maybe I'm a bit dull. I feel tricked as it is unclear from a quick glance what I am looking at is really an advertisement, not a tutorial or some kind of reference. And as an advertisement, it may or may not be useful. At least the incentives are clearly there to present information in a way that benefits their funnel even if it doesn't benefit me as a developer. Even if its not a straight up lie, they will obviously not mention an alternative solution to their product and could very well be quite incomplete.

For a reference, I want something I can trust to give information relevant to my purpose, something that is complete and valid. Not a playful hidden advertisement, funneling me into a single paid solution. Maybe this is why I prefer python, even after working with rails for many years. As I said, I might be a bit dull.

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