[niggler]

"I am bewildered at the hostility, and going away to try to understand it. I feel a bit like I've been kicked."

IF there's any hostility, it's directed at people and acts that are seen as inconsistent: You point to the rule that says "Please don't post on HN to ask or tell us something ... If you want to say something to us, please send it to [e-mail]. " after you made a post telling them that the site is having issues.

"More, I figured that most of the other times something goes wrong at least someone posts to HN asking, and no one had done so."

That's not an excuse for you to do something which, as you pointed out, violates a rule.

"I was half hoping to head off the usual flood of posts that something was wrong and let there be just the one place,"

Incidentally there is one place that did head off the usual flood of posts: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5650171 Are you complaining that it wasn't your post that was the one place?

[ColinWright]

Look. It was four in the morning in California, so I posted a question here in essence to see if anyone else was also having problems. Doing so isn't against any rule, it's against a guideline. I assessed the situation, and decided that at the time a posting was more appropriate than an email.

Subsequently someone asked if there was a support line, and I answered the question. I don't see that as inconsistent, I think it was the most prudent thing to do.

    Incidentally there is one place that did head off the usual
    flood of posts: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5650171
    Are you complaining that it wasn't your post that was the one
    place?

What? I posted three hours before that. No one noticed, probably because it was 4am in California. A later posting got the attention. So what? I have no idea how you can see that as me complaining - I even posted cross-links so people could go to the one that had got the attention!

This avails us of nothing. You seem to have issues with actions that I see as having been perfectly logical and reasonable. You don't accept my version of what happened, and genuinely can't see why you think they were inconsistent.

Screw it. It's the weekend, there's a holiday Monday, and I'm walking away.

[SeanDav]

In defence of ColinWright, it was partly due to his quick comment, upvote and crosslink that got this story onto the front page. Otherwise it might have floundered and never reached the front page, which would possibly have meant a whole flood of posts asking the same question, until one gained traction.

Having said that, I too found the logic of pointing out an email address for support, while posting a submission, somewhat contradictory - but certainly nothing to get aggressive about.

[graedus]

I don't think dfc's first reply or niggler's first reply contain any aggression or hostility whatsoever. As you said, pasting the guideline having done the opposite hours earlier was contradictory, so that was pointed out.

I should say it doesn't help that the first part of his explanation was that if he had followed the guideline -- using email instead of posting -- he wouldn't have gotten an answer as quickly as he would like. This immediately implies that exceptions are to be made as soon as the recommended action infringes on personal convenience, which would of course make the guideline meaningless.

[ColinWright]

To my reading the guidelines didn't apply given what I knew at the time. As far as I knew the problem might have been purely local, in which case I didn't want to hassle YC/PG with what would amount to a support issue. I thought it prudent to try to discover if it was wider than just my situation. So I posted.

If you honestly can't see the difference between posting to tell YC/PG about a problem, or to ask them a question, as opposed to posting to ask if other people are having the same problem, then I'm at a loss.

[graedus]

I can understand that distinction, although I'd argue that pasting the guideline without comment to another user in the context of this particular issue implied that your stance was that this issue was one where the guideline applied. You might argue that his or her question was general but I think it's clear from the context that he or she was asking: "what channel should I use when something _like this_ happens?"

Anyway, not a big deal and no hostility intended - have a good weekend.