Indeed - at the time no one else had reported problems, and it was a taster/teaser to see if it was just me, or a system-wide problem. I wasn't asking for support, or reporting a problem to HN, just seeing if it was a local SNAFU.
How do you know others didn't do the right thing (by emailing info@ycombinator.com) ? AFAICT emails sent to the address aren't publicly available.
I was hoping to find out if the problem was unique to me, and I suspected it wasn't. I was half hoping to head off the usual flood of posts that something was wrong and let there be just the one place, and I was certainly not expecting this reaction. I am bewildered at the hostility, and going away to try to understand it. I feel a bit like I've been kicked.
IF there's any hostility, it's directed at people and acts that are seen as inconsistent: You point to the rule that says "Please don't post on HN to ask or tell us something ... If you want to say something to us, please send it to info@ycombinator.com. " after you made a post telling them that the site is having issues.
"More, I figured that most of the other times something goes wrong at least someone posts to HN asking, and no one had done so."
That's not an excuse for you to do something which, as you pointed out, violates a rule.
"I was half hoping to head off the usual flood of posts that something was wrong and let there be just the one place,"
Incidentally there is one place that did head off the usual flood of posts: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5650171 Are you complaining that it wasn't your post that was the one place?
Subsequently someone asked if there was a support line, and I answered the question. I don't see that as inconsistent, I think it was the most prudent thing to do.
Incidentally there is one place that did head off the usual
flood of posts: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5650171
Are you complaining that it wasn't your post that was the one
place?
This avails us of nothing. You seem to have issues with actions that I see as having been perfectly logical and reasonable. You don't accept my version of what happened, and genuinely can't see why you think they were inconsistent.
Screw it. It's the weekend, there's a holiday Monday, and I'm walking away.
Having said that, I too found the logic of pointing out an email address for support, while posting a submission, somewhat contradictory - but certainly nothing to get aggressive about.
I should say it doesn't help that the first part of his explanation was that if he had followed the guideline -- using email instead of posting -- he wouldn't have gotten an answer as quickly as he would like. This immediately implies that exceptions are to be made as soon as the recommended action infringes on personal convenience, which would of course make the guideline meaningless.
If you honestly can't see the difference between posting to tell YC/PG about a problem, or to ask them a question, as opposed to posting to ask if other people are having the same problem, then I'm at a loss.
Anyway, not a big deal and no hostility intended - have a good weekend.
"I wasn't asking for support, or reporting a problem to HN, just seeing if it was a local SNAFU."
I asked how submitting a story to report a problem was different than submitting a story to see if it was a local SNAFU. And you brought up isup.me which would have been useless since the issue was related to logins?
I attempted an analogous investigation before posting. I tried Private Browsing mode, which worked. I tried different browsers, which didn't. The next step in my investigation before emailing YC/PG was to find out if it was just me on this local network, and the only way I had to investigate that was to ask someone else. The only way I could do that was to post to HN. It seemed the obvious next investigatory stage.