[N00bN00b]

Computation, bandwidth and (open source) software is so cheap these days that it approaches free for many people (but not all). It's just a matter of coming up with a functioning model.

Ad supported is just one such model and it's not a very new one at that. Remember, you made this comment on server that was provided to you for free without the need of ad support.

[boogies]

> Remember, you made this comment on server that was provided to you for free without the need of ad support.

HN has ads, just sneaky ones that blend in with user-submitted links on the front page ($YCStartup is Hiring, Launch HNs. But on the positive side, they don't seem to rely on tracking to target any narrower audience than the whole HN userbase).

https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented#percei...

[N00bN00b]

Comes down to your definition of advertisement.

It's not without self interest. But that was kind of my point. So I'd say you and I are on the same page, I just used a different way to describe it and if that wasn't clear, that's probably because of how I wrote it. But thanks for giving me your feedback.

[belltaco]

Reddit-like software is open source, what's stopping anyone like you then? Talk is cheap.

>Ad supported is just one such model and it's not a very new one at that. Remember, you made this comment on server that was provided to you for free without the need of ad support.

There are job ads on HN, plus HN is even more highly moderated than Reddit. So it's a very bad example.

[N00bN00b]

>Reddit-like software is open source, what's stopping anyone like you then? Talk is cheap.

That source code hasn't been updated in years.

>There are job ads on HN, plus HN is even more highly moderated than Reddit. So it's a very bad example.

If you add meaning to the words of others that is not there, then indeed, the examples are bad.

To bring up the moderation here, you're supposed to be nice and interpret the words of others positively. Your reply is bordering on malicious:

>Be kind. Don't be snarky. Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine. Please don't fulminate. Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community.

[belltaco]

>That source code hasn't been updated in years.

Oh so it does cost effort and money to hire people to make a site like Reddit, thought you said it's easy and cheap and approaches free. So how does Reddit recoup that money???

Anyway, I said Reddit-like, not Reddit. E.g. https://github.com/libertysoft3/saidit

Old Reddit code is still pretty good.

>If you add meaning to the words of others that is not there, then indeed, the examples are bad.

>To bring up the moderation here, you're supposed to be nice and interpret the words of others positively. Your reply is bordering on malicious:

My point was that HN runs on ads and the financial goodwill of YC. If there's hate speech and misinformation on here then it would reflect badly on YC and YC backed companies. So we run into the exact same problem with Reddit and Youtube servers running with ad companies that don't want ads on a site with hate speech and misinformation.

If you want to set up or donate to such a site to prevent these influences, as you seem to think servers, bandwidth and maintenance is cheap. I think only talk is cheap, prove me wrong. What are the reasons for not creating such a site since you feel so strongly about censorship?

[0des]

It's not free, it's just not something you compensate with cash. Let's not pretend that HN does not derive value from the people using it- that's a key component of the business.

[N00bN00b]

"Approaches free" does not mean "free" in this context and that HN derives that value in other ways than advertisement was the point I was making.