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What is Hacker News?
65 points by blantonl on Aug 31, 2010 | hide | past | favorite | 41 comments
This post is spurred by seeing the Hacker News guidelines this evening: [Moderator: feel free to remove this]

What IS Hacker News? Is it a social site for startups? Or venture capital? Is it similar to Slashdot (or was Slashdot once similar)? Is it a combinator for startups? (No pun intended). Or is it a more "elite" group of like minded individuals?

I am relative newcomer to the Hacker News scene, being a member for just under a year, but I've gained significant knowledge from those that participate here. I own and manage a well established Internet business, but with regards to Hacker News I struggle to understand who exactly Hacker News is designed for, and targeted to. Frankly, I suffer from an identity crisis at times.

I may need to be content with the understanding that I gain great perspective for my business by reading and participating here, but my curiosity still recommends that I ask this question.

Warm regards,

Lindsay



Hacker news is designed for and targeted at hackers. In the sense of the word that means people who write code, not people who break into things. Other people with similar tastes also like it.

Since it's run by YC and the initial users were mostly YC founders, there is inevitably a startup spin to the stories that are popular here. In fact the site was originally called Startup News. But it turned out to be boring to have so much of a startup focus, so we changed the name and the focus to be more general.


What is a hacker?

A hacker is someone whose appetite for the universe is never quite satisfied. The hacker seeks to understand: himself, others, what surrounds him, the tools he uses, the things he enjoys, how things fit together. The hacker seeks to build: ideas, means, practical applications, businesses, cultural movements. Some build just one, some build them all. The hacker seeks to learn, to experiment, to solve, and to learn again.

The male pronoun above is of course used merely out of grammatical tradition. Hackers are male and female, young and old. Hackers are in Silicon Valley and in the middle of cornfields, they are in industrialized countries and in developing ones, they date back centuries before the term was coined and will exist as long as does the human condition.

I guess that turned into something of a manifesto. But that's what I believe is embodied in the spirit of the hacker.


I think what you're describing is a more general class of people. Hackers are the subgroup of such people, who are dealing mostly with computers and writing code.


I consider a COMPLEX problem solver is a hacker. A person who makes profound contribution to his field of interest is a hacker. A person who looks at a tree and wonders why the branches and the leaves grow the way they should is a hacker. TO SUM IT UP A PERSON WHO'S NOT WORRIED BUT CURIOUS TO KNOW HOW THINGS WORK IS A HACKER. HACKER NEWS IS A PLACE FOR THESE MEN,WOMEN AND CHILDREN TO MEET UP. (for the time being i don't fall into any of the above category as i'am yet to become a hacker!!!!!!!!)


In the sense of the word that means people who write code

or more generally, people who like to tinker for discovery and exploration. code just happens to be the easiest medium in which to do so :)


it turned out to be boring to have so much of a startup focus

Glad I'm not the only one that thinks this!


pg, thank you. This background gives a much better perspective (to me) on the community.

I look forward to participating further and hopefully better furthering my efforts based on what I learn here.


Everyone is here for a different reason. Some people love startups, some love technology, some love programming. Some just like to learn new things.

If you look broadly at the topics, discussions and members I think it's somewhat obvious that there's a common denominator in all of this. Hacker news is a collection of intellectually curious people who enjoy interacting with and being challenged by likeminded souls. This is evidenced by the generally well-thought out comments, stimulating submissions and the tendency to downvote comments that aren't interesting or add to the conversation.

Hacker news is simply a place where you can meet other people that value intellectual integrity and a good conversation about an interesting subject whatever that may be.


I'm mostly here for the technology / programming stuff, but I do appreciate the entrepreneurial factor. It seems to bias the content towards ideas that are potentially disruptive, as opposed to press releases and unfocused technophilia.


"potentially disruptive"? Please elaborate. I find that the ideas mentioned here stem from other ideas mentioned here in a mostly positive fashion.


"Disruptive" here is being used in the sense that Schumpeter called "creative destruction" the engine of capitalism.

In other words, an idea that has the potential to change the world, probably in a way that will break somebody's rice bowls (while quite likely creating some new ones).

Like what Craigslist and eBay have done to newspaper classified advertising.


Nice words ! One of the example :http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1307646/iStet...


Everyone is here for a different reason.

True! I am here because I like HN interface and look. There are other sites that provide articles, submissions and discussions on programming and technology. But none do it as well as HN.

One such site is so full of irritating ads, links to other articles and what not that it becomes nearly impossible to focus on the real thing. At another famous site, I am still unable to understand their comment and karma system.

HN is simple, nice and clean. I would say more productive.


It's also quick to load on my iPhone and the linked articles are generally longer and easier to read on said device because there is less context switching that is slow on the device.


Hacker News was created by Paul Graham. You may also want to check out some of his essays at paulgraham.com. Here is one which gives some background on why he created Hacker News, and his thoughts on it as of Feb. 2009.

http://paulgraham.com/hackernews.html


I think HN still very much reflects the mind of Paul Graham and his range of interests. Obviously he's an expert in startups, but he's also one of the best practical psychologists I've read. And I think this is a site about the mindset that produces programmers, entrepreneurs and people who like to do difficult, mentally-challenging projects and be delighted by the challenge.


It's a site for greedy nerds.

That's my honest opinion, can't mod me down for that, right?


Me too. Except (and correct me if I'm misinterpreting you) while you see this as an insult, I see it as a compliment. It is a site for people that are smart and love to learn. It is a site for people that know what the want, and are willing to take the risks to achieve that. It is a site for people that are creative, productive, and try to produce things that the people around them need or want. So yes it is a site for greedy nerds, and that is one of the reasons I enjoy coming.


and that, my friend, is why I love this community.