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Comment by arp242 | Hacker News Reader

> I wonder what he's implying about GitHub

Nothing. It's just a common(-ish) reference/joke.

Yes. I've also used this when leaving a job, albeit with a slight modification since the job did not provide fish. I suppose you could read it with the subtext that the dolphins are saying "see ya suckers" but I think it's more appropriate to read it as the dolphins actually saying "thank you" even though things didn't entirely work out.

"Thanks for all the phish."

    scp emails.db tom@dohmke.dev:/home/.

I had a coworker say this when quitting. Most people that knew the reference interpreted it in a negative way. I would not recommend using it because of how ambiguous it is

tbh I had never thought carefully about it until now. I always got excited hearing it from other people thinking "Oh another person who likes Douglas Adam's book!"

I'm kind of glad I read this thread though, I can see why it could stress people out.

One of my reports was a hardcore HHGG fan, including carrying a towel on towel day. He signed off with the "so long and thanks for all the fish", and I don't think anyone read anything negative into this.

In fact, while that was some years ago, it was a tight-knit team and we still meet up for dinner with the original team members about 2-3x a year :)

Yeah. I always interpreted that quote as the dolphins saying “thanks, it was fun while it lasted”

If I remember correctly, the dolphins had tried to warn humanity without success and eventually gave up and left, so the “see ya suckers” reading doesn’t quite track.

Maybe I'm reading "see ya suckers" wrong, but IMHO that reading absolutely tracks. "See ya suckers... [we tried to warn you]"

Yeah, I didn't know it was a reference to something - it was just a saying to me without any background context.

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