[ColinWright]

isoskeles> Why quote the entire comment you’re replying to?

Not the person of whom you're asking, but I sometimes quote substantial parts of text to which I'm replying for three basic reasons.

The first is that in a large thread if can sometimes be difficult to find the original. In that case it's useful to have the comment there, not least because if you want to see the original you have the exact text to search for.

The second is that in some other forums it's the usual behaviour, and when it's a habit, and regarded as a "Good Thing"(tm) in other forums, that behaviour can carry over. I find it a natural thing to do, and sometimes have to think twice to stop myself from doing it.

And thirdly, in the past I've seen replies that genuinely don't seem to make sense, only to discover subsequently that the original text was edited. I fully appreciate that on HN the unethical editing of text to make replies look stupid is not "A Thing"(tm) but it does make the habit a useful one.

[jocoda]

Let's not forget that entire HN threads can disappear too. Had a thread on which I make a comment disappear once.