Hacker News – The Good Parts

Summary

Hacker News - The Good Parts 16 Oct, 2025 The other day, my twelve-year-old daughter asked me what platform I spend most of my time on when I'm on my phone or computer. She intuitively noticed that it must be some kind of nerd stuff since it looks so odd and doesn't resemble Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, etc., which she knows but luckily refrains from using herself — yet. For those of you who are curious, here is my explanation of what Hacker News is, why I like it, and what sets it apart from the others. I deliberately left out the negative aspects for a different article, so be warned that this is a one-sided view only. ExplanationHN is a website where any registered user can submit links to other websites. Each link is given a single-line title, which is usually the title of the original resource. Other users can vote up such submissions or comment on them. Highly upvoted submissions are listed on the front page. The same holds true for comments: Users can vote on them (and now also downvote) or comment on them. There are some minor nuances, but this is the core functionality. The HN Guidelines are concise and to the point — there isn't much to add. However, I would like to share what I find most notable about the concept and the result. Content shall satisfy "intellectual curiosity"The majority of submissions are in the broad category of information technology. When it comes to different disciplines, you will find submissions on very general, high-level topics and foundational and basic material. You will also find very detailed, in-depth, and niche content, which definitely qualifies as one interpretation of the term "hacker," referring to someone with an in-depth knowledge of a specific technical topic. However, there are also interesting finds from philosophy, business, history, archaeology, biology, mathematics, literature, and linguistics, which cover the full range of content depth. The best part? No politics, trivia, or spam. Mainstream media news is rare ...