On the other hand, my comment ranks (by votes) among the top 0.3% I've written on the site, while yours has been voted down so far after 13 hours that it's hard to read (I didn't downvote you). We're both software developers, we've both been in the industry for comparably long periods of time, but it feels like maybe one of us is saying something that better resonates with our peers.
It'd be interesting to see if, having pointed this out, the voting spread changes. I'd like a truer accounting, if there's one to be had!
Lol come on Thomas. That is probably the most pathetic comment I’ve seen you write. Worthless internet karma is a validation of your ideas? Did all your upvotes for starfighter on hacker news actually turn it into a real business or was it a failure in real life?
Why not try to publicize this ideaand see how much real traction you get? (spoiler alert: zero because most developers don’t want it)
1. Starfighter did not seem to me at the time to be beloved by HN.
2. Starfighter is one of 3 companies I've been involved in publicly on HN. The first one did pretty good. We're doing pretty good with this one. Thanks for asking! :)
3. There's an obvious difference between the question of whether something's a viable business (CTFs as contingency recruiters: probably not!) vs. whether an argument represents any kind of popular sentiment.
4. Do upvotes validate my argument? No. But they would seem to me to rebut your claim to speak for "most developers".
I’m glad your first and current ventures are successful. Hardworking people should be rewarded. My point is HN love has no bearing on success. Starfighter was pretty popular and everyone on HN wants a new way to interview. But it didn’t translate to a success.
A converse example is Uber. Uber is despised on HN and every anti-Uber comment is upvoted. But HN sentiment has had no consequence on Uber’s success and growth.
“Most developers” don’t comment on HN. Most developers also don’t want unions otherwise we would have had one in the 50 years of industry, despite all your precious HN upvotes.
Also, your misrepresentation of “publicize” into “publication” is strange.
Right, but no part of Uber's "argument" depends on the support of HN users. You can't say that, at least not cleanly, about organizing SFBA software developers.
I'm not saying "I'm right because I'm upvoted". I'm saying that his argument that I'm out in the wilderness on this issue is wrong because of that. He has more than one argument. I'm just refuting that one.
It felt icky writing that comment upthread, but, I figured, what the hell, let's see what happens.
It'd be interesting to see if, having pointed this out, the voting spread changes. I'd like a truer accounting, if there's one to be had!