>The subject is vast, and it is occasionally technical,
I'm saying the subject itself is technical, but I think it's worth pointing out two things:
1) The conversation surrounding it is still more technical here on HN than almost any other community on or off the web.
2) The subject and/or conversation surrounding it need not be technical in the first place to qualify as a legitimate HN post (though we know this will greatly increase the number of people that don't wish to view the content).
>and they're spamming every thread with off-topic NSA posts,
This is a perfect example of where you should flag comments, as opposed to just flagging links to NSA stories on the front page. No argument there.
>but most of the discussion on HN is Frist Post and Natalie Portman/Hot Grits with a veil of legitimacy.
Getting back to point #2 above, this is OK. There plenty of users on here that are not experts enough to comment on the technical intricacies of some of the information, and it runs the full range from slightly out of the loop to ignorant of the technical details. But there are intellectual (and yes, political per the HN FAQ) responses that are valid to voice here. Some of the technical users on here may find it low value, but I'd argue it is extremely important nonetheless, but most importantly, squarely on-topic per the HN FAQ.
I'm saying the subject itself is technical, but I think it's worth pointing out two things:
1) The conversation surrounding it is still more technical here on HN than almost any other community on or off the web.
2) The subject and/or conversation surrounding it need not be technical in the first place to qualify as a legitimate HN post (though we know this will greatly increase the number of people that don't wish to view the content).
>and they're spamming every thread with off-topic NSA posts,
This is a perfect example of where you should flag comments, as opposed to just flagging links to NSA stories on the front page. No argument there.
>but most of the discussion on HN is Frist Post and Natalie Portman/Hot Grits with a veil of legitimacy.
Getting back to point #2 above, this is OK. There plenty of users on here that are not experts enough to comment on the technical intricacies of some of the information, and it runs the full range from slightly out of the loop to ignorant of the technical details. But there are intellectual (and yes, political per the HN FAQ) responses that are valid to voice here. Some of the technical users on here may find it low value, but I'd argue it is extremely important nonetheless, but most importantly, squarely on-topic per the HN FAQ.
My two cents anyway...