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0 pointskrapp10y ago0 comments

Show HN shouldn't be a platform for advertising startups anyway. Too many submitters try to "show" landing pages which are nothing more than subscription forms, or services which have no published source code and require signing up to even see what it is and how it works, to get viral and get traction.

Being a place for people to show off their code and their (possibly incomplete, and not necessarily for profit) projects is what makes Show HN unique, on a forum otherwise biased towards startups and SV culture.

Of course, I recognize my personal opinion on the matter is not really relevant, but I don't think low volume is necessarily a bad thing.

0 comments

jjoe10y ago

I'm not against what you're saying w.r.t it being a place to show code and interesting not-for-profit projects, but we can't force Show HN to be that and only that. Forcing an open-source only culture on Show HN is no better than startups/SV forcing a for-profit culture on Show HN. I think we're better off with an open place that's balanced and healthy.

krappOP10y ago

That's a fair point.

At the very least, though, I think users be able to do something with a Show HN submission besides just sign up for the beta. There should be content worth building a discussion around, even if it's just a mockup or preview of features.

dangrossman10y ago

HN agrees with you. The rules try to address that.

> Show HN is for something you've made that other people can play with.

> If your work isn't ready for people to try out yet, please don't put "Show HN" in the title.

> For example, blog posts, sign-up pages, and fundraisers can't be tried out, so they don't count as Show HNs.

https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html

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