You know what's wrong and mean? Getting "You're submitting too fast. Please slow down. Thanks." the moment you fall under the radar of the same moderator who encourages users to downvote dissenting opinions.
I kid, I kid. Down with the toxic, up with the awesome (with the definitions up to the people in power)!
"Hacking" isn't exclusive to computers and software.
Also, at the time of writing this, the #1 article on Hacker News is "Most types of cancer not due to “bad luck” [pdf]" which has little to do with computers or software.
I'm a developer of 20+ years and have no idea how to patch most open source software and have it "just work".
Software has progressed to the point where the complexity and interconnectedness is far beyond what any one developer can do. Everyone just knows a few subsections.
It was quite common for the Linux kernel to panic, 15 years or so ago. I bet that even now it is much easier to make Linux panic than Darwin. HN became way too passive-aggressive in recent years... :(
I run a Linux kernel 'tainted' with binary modules on my desktop and I don't remember the last time I saw a kernel panic. Maybe a couple of years ago when I ran the nVidia proprietary drivers along the generic framebuffer even though the documentation advised against it.