Why isn't hacker news a subreddit on reddit.com?

I came to Hacker News to get away from Reddit. I'm not even a programmer, I just got sick of the deviation to the norm. Also, what would really be the point. It would be akin to having a slashdot or digg subreddit.

There's no harm in creating a Hacker News subbreddit. I just don't think it would be too popular.

nathan_f772• 15 years ago

The real point for me is that Reddit is a far better website - it's just nicer to use.

If not a subreddit, is there any reason why Hacker News couldn't use a forked version of the open source Reddit code?

mindcrime• 15 years ago

If not a subreddit, is there any reason why Hacker News couldn't use a forked version of the open source Reddit code?

For one, pg had created a new Lisp dialect (Arc) and wanted something to use it on; and - IIRC - HN came along before the Reddit code went OSS anyway. Although my memory could be betraying me on that latter point...

vorbby2• 15 years ago

Is it really better to use? HN is incredibly simple, and everything works as expected. There's a few UI quirks with reddit that I don't particularly like. For example: I don't think it's obvious to a new user how to submit a story. Second (and this might be a personal preference) clicking the reddit logo in the header should take you to the main page for that subreddit, not reddit.com. Particularly when said subreddit has a customized logo.

pg• 15 years ago

That's what I wanted originally: a startup subreddit. But (a) Steve took a long time to implement subreddits and (b) I needed an application to test Arc on. So I wrote what was originally called "Startup News."

vorbby2• 15 years ago

I think this is a valid idea. There's many times where there's things I'd like to discuss that is similar to, or related to, topics covered by Hacker News, but that I don't post here because I don't want to dilute the topics here with things that some people might not want.

A HN subreddit (or a subreddit with this purpose, not necessarily tied to the Hacker News name; maybe there is one already?) could solve this.

manuscreationis• 15 years ago

There actually IS a subreddit, of sorts, for some of these kinds of posts. /r/startup(s) - I can't quite recall if it was singular or plural.

It's a pretty barren subreddit, however. I never noticed a whole lot of new material going through there, so I stopped checking it.

Also, completely makes sense to do this outside of something like a Reddit, which already has an established community and sense of policy. Doing his own project, his stated reasons aside, gives PG the ability to set whatever tone he thinks is appropriate for the direction of the site. While that may not have been his original intention, I'm sure it's come in handy for him more than once.

Plus, it's fun to build new things from scratch and see if they "stick"

DanielRibeiro• 15 years ago

There was also a hacker news subreddit[1], but people seem to have abandoned it.

[1] http://www.reddit.com/r/hackernews

Joakal• 15 years ago

#startups is the most popular subreddit for HNers. You'll find some dislike for HN though. Moderation/YC rejection issues mostly.

rjd• 15 years ago

Really? Reddit has lost all integrity with me, since digg imploded all the problems that digg had migrated there way over and the voting system has drawn out the very worst in the digg crowd. I used Reddit from 2006 till later this year where I reached a level of disgust I feel no need to associate myself with it.

Theres a terrible sense of group think there and the karma system creates a sense of validation for bad behavior (especially considering its known for bad moderation). And as many people use multiple sub-reddits this bad behavior has just spilled over everywhere. Reading the comments is like a diary of a mad man, just a pile of sycophants trying so hard to be funny (and generally failing).

Even Something Awful and 4Chan have taken moral high ground against the decadence going on there. I'm not sure if anyone here saw the media recently when SA users decided to hunt out pedos in reddit and took it to the main stream media. There is a great thread on SA covering it step by step and Reddit really doesn't come out looking that great.

Its a site which needs a seriously clean out and serious moderation, but I suspect it to late for that, they have created a tone and it will stick. Just like every other community has a tone its known for.

Kjeet• 15 years ago

I die a little inside every time I see:

   Unknown or expired link.

My only issue with HN.

antrover• 15 years ago

I love hacker news as well as reddit. I have noticed a trend though, and I'm unsure if it's intentional, or just a result of how both sites are used: 1.) The stories on Hacker News are mainly about start ups (not all, but most). 2.) The users of /r/javascript, or /r/programming (and other programming related subreddits) are very helpful when it comes to finding answers to programming related questions.

I find myself pursuing reddit more often because I am not involved in a start up, or have any interest in starting a start up. I just like to code, and reddit fuels my interest more than hacker news does in that regard. I'm sure I'll get "downvoted" to hell for saying that.

Why isn't hacker news a subreddit on reddit.com?

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