Hacker News: A Cure for Eternal September?

2025-09-22

This article explores how Hacker News (HN) maintains high-quality discussions and content while experiencing relentless user growth and traffic. HN uses strict rules, algorithmic ranking, human moderation, and a unique link aggregator model to effectively filter low-quality content and encourage in-depth discussions. While HN isn't flawless, suffering from issues like commenters not reading articles, excessive criticism, and user base biases, its unique operational model offers valuable lessons for other online communities.

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(hsu.cy)
Tech

OOXML: Microsoft's 'Open' Trap? LibreOffice's Accusation and the Truth

2025-09-09

LibreOffice accuses Microsoft's OOXML file format of being deliberately complex to lock in users and create a de facto monopoly. The article cites numerous technical flaws in OOXML and the chaotic standardization process. However, the author argues this wasn't deliberate sabotage by Microsoft, but rather a prioritization of self-interest, a defensive strategy against antitrust pressure and competition from ODF. OOXML's complexity stems from its direct mapping of Office's internal data structures, not a concise description of document content, making it more of a program state dump than an ideal standard. While Microsoft's actions objectively resulted in anti-competitive effects, the motivation differs from deliberate sabotage.

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(hsu.cy)