Experienced software engineers are skilled at creating and maintaining systems, not writing code. That skill is way more valuable than sitting in a quiet dark place to sling code.
>Freedom isn't merely the choice between 'Fresh Stripe' toothpaste and 'Total Whitening' toothpaste - it's having the choice to go without even though it's dumb to have your teeth fall out.
>What is everyone's problem? Why do we want to interfere with this?
Pricing is very important. There's a reason a lot of manufactures won't allow a company to discount their prices. If my discount pizza shop who usually sells a large cheese pie for $8 gets a reputation for selling a large cheese pie for $15, it could negatively effect branding. The $8 pie place doesn't want to compete with gourmet pizza shops, and a way they do that is by pricing. Having someone inflate your prices without consent could put your restaurant out of business.
the fact that you don't inform users of shadowsbans an rate limiting without due process is pretty stifling. it's the reason i have this account, as I'm sure you know.
It's very clear that this is YOUR community. I don't think that's a bad thing, community wise. Just own it. It's OK. Being dictator-like isn't bad if you have clear goals and limited scope. It's just unfortunate that one of your goals is to squelch those who have unpopular opinions. And I'm not talking about neo-nazi white supremacy bullshit, it's clear you support that edge.
>If you can't speak out or express thoughts against the rules, you are ceding your own ability to ever change the rules. Allowing a small subset of people to control the rules for the masses has never, will never, and could not ever work in a free society.
That's funny, I find the moderators stifle talking about the rules on Hackernews via secret shadowbans, post rate limiting, and other secret punishments...yet here you are.
Can you say with any confidence that the sender isn't American law enforcement?