nix formatting suggests that the asterisk in nix needs to be escaped. Apparently on HN that requires putting a space after the * though, so you end up with * nix.
Apparently HN's markdown implementation is supposed to leave the * alone as long as here is not another the other end. But there seems to be no upper limit to where that end may be.
Also, it seems to only check if the * is near something else, not if it is before or after. Nor if the after is after a before (if that made any sense at all).
> Apparently HN's markdown implementation is supposed to
What made you think it's Markdown implementation? It's pure text, with
paragraphs delimited with empty lines, code blocks being prefixed by space (or
two, I never remember) and emphasis being marked by asterisks. There's
nothing more.
Also, it seems to only check if the * is near something else, not if it is before or after. Nor if the after is after a before (if that made any sense at all).