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Comment by wilfra | Hacker News Reader

Something about using a svbtle clone and ripping app.net on it doesn't sit well with me.

That's ad hominem, but for a theme. Ad themium.

I don't know that it's an ad hominem argument because there was no argument made--only an observation.

I didn't realize he was not part of svbtle, but it does seem like he's trying to claim credibility he hasn't earned by styling his blog as if he were a member. Svbtle is new enough that I don't know if there's much associated credibility, but still.

None of this is relevant to his point, which may as well be made as part of a chorus. Lots of people don't see the value.

Hmm, that's a fair argument, but I think there's a difference between "the author isn't actually an part of svbtle" and what the GP said. I understood his implied argument as more like "he shouldn't be criticizing app.net because he ripped off the blog theme".

I didn't realize he was not part of svbtle, but it does seem like he's trying to claim credibility he hasn't earned by styling his blog as if he were a member.

I'm not sure being part of Svbtle lends anyone any "credibility".

If only you had read/quoted just one more sentence, you would find we agree. :)

Ouch, you're right. I'm an idiot, sorry.

What is svbtle in the first place (never even heard of it, and I bet 99% of people haven't either)? Is it a theme? I have no clue why this needs to be mentioned. WHy not just criticize his words?

Svbtle is a blog network. Go to SVBTLE.COM to see who's writing for it; it's the first thing you see on the site.

Whether or not something is part of SVBTLE is about as important a point as whether it's written for Ars Technica, or for ZDNet: that is, not the most important thing about the piece, but by absolutely no means irrelevant.

Also, had this been an actual Svbtle piece, it would have carried the frisson of being a contrarian take on the work of another Svbtle author, since Svbtle is where Dalton Caldwell announced App.net to begin with.

ok so it's an elitist old boy's club? And this blog isn't part of it? Still do not get what's the big deal.

"Elitist old boy's club"? What does that even mean?

Are we really that insecure? That any time anybody chooses to affiliate selectively in a new way, we have to cast aspersions?

Its WP-SVBTLE theme for wordpress: http://wp-svbtle.bootstrapthem.es/

Also, isn't everything derived from something? Case in point: http://drawar.com/

The point isn't that Curtis has a monopoly on thin black strokes and generous leading. The point is that it's not OK to set out with the goal of confusing readers as to whether a blog is or isn't a part of a blog network.

I don't think most people understand that Svbtle is a "blog network" rather than a particular blog engine or even just theme. For a long time I assumed it was just a neat alternative to Wordpress, not an exclusive group of pen pals.

Step 1: Type SVBTLE.COM into your browser address bar.

Step 2: Close your eyes, hit ENTER, count to 10.

Step 3: Open your eyes and count to 10 again.

Step 4: Tell me how that argument still stands.

This doesn't address the nature of his comment. Not everything is an argument.

You're probably right. Thanks.

There's a difference between a rip-off and a site that's 'inspired by' another. svbtle is definitely inspired by drawar, but it's much more refined. wp-svbtle is just a plain copy, there's no originality to it.

When Svbtle first launched, as a take on blog authoring software, the originality of the design might have mattered. At the time, I found it especially annoying that people reacted to Curtis' aloof online persona by deliberately cloning his offering in an effort to dilute his work.

But dilution isn't the issue anymore. Curtis won: he's built a real blog network, with many very interesting writers. He's got Dalrymple writing about Mac stuff, Justin Kan from Justin.tv, Dave McClure from 500 Startups, and John Collison from Stripe. It's past time people stopped pretending like we're talking about a page of CSS.

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