←back to thread

Ask PG: Why don’t you open source HN?

114 points muellerwolfram | 2 comments | 04 Jan 13 02:58 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source

I hope it didn’t get asked before, I couldn’t find anything.

There was a question recently, about why you don’t improve the HTML of HN, where you said "When the HTML is the most important thing to work on."(http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4927231)

I agree that the markup is relatively unimportant compared to features that I think could really improve the functionality and quality of the site, and I bet you have a long wishlist of features yourself.

But between the lines I interpreted that that list might be way longer, than the time that is available to you, allows you to work on it.

So why don’t you open source HN? I get that with a project that is important to someone, it’s hard to give away control. But you can still be the project lead, you could still have the last call and I feel to open up the project will lead to great feature discussions and ultimately a better hn.

Have you ever considered open sourcing it? And what’s the thought process on your decision?

Show context
jff ◴[04 Jan 13 04:59 UTC] No.5006342[source]▶
It's simple but effective. The pages load quickly and look pretty decent in many different browsers.

I'm really happy that HN isn't your typical constantly-mutating, constantly growing news site, adding a new social share button and 2KB of new Javascript every week. Please, pg, don't start taking pull requests or anything like that, it's great the way it is.

Edit: look at the current top story. A pretty but not especially functional Facebook redesign, proposed as the latest in a long line of changes that the users pretty much always disliked. There's my point.

replies(7): >>5006376 #>>5006377 #>>5006405 #>>5006514 #>>5006644 #>>5006645 #>>5006873 #
muellerwolfram ◴[04 Jan 13 05:32 UTC] No.5006405[source]▶
i agree the site is simple and effective as it is. but it's not perfect. there is always something that can be improved. this probably doesn't include adding social share buttons and 2KB of new JavaScript every week. Like you said. And I agree, so would many people, so would pg, and this would also be the conclusion of an open feature discussion and wouldn't result in a successful pull request.

but think about it from a different perspective: there is a feature that many people agree would make the site better. e.g. a new job board for non-YC-companies, like discussed here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4993571. lets assume that after openly discussing the problem, pg and the majority of the community agrees upon a solution. now lets assume that there are more features like this, and that pg hasn't the time to implement them all. wouldn't it be nice if the community could help out?

replies(1): >>5006420 #
1. tptacek ◴[04 Jan 13 05:36 UTC] No.5006420[source]▶
Job posts on HN are a perk for YC companies. Adding job posts for non-YC companies essentially kills that perk.
replies(1): >>5008677 #
2. WiseWeasel ◴[04 Jan 13 17:34 UTC] No.5008677[source]▶
Could be a revenue source, like a daily auction for a non-YC job post slot. YC companies would still get it for free.