HN meta: I'm sort of disappointed that this has been getting downvoted.
Obviously, what Linden is saying in this case is probably not helping his business case. It's clear to me that he either does not understand why Maciej doesn't want to implement a private API, or does not wish to understand it.
On the other hand, neither of those things are grounds for a downvote, I think. A downvote says "this content shouldn't be on HN" -- that there's something about a comment that detracts from how the community operates. Linden has been completely respectful in what he says and how he says it. Maybe that's not the case in what he's asking his users to do, but we may as well let him ask.
Ehh, I'm not sure that's generally accepted. A few years back pg himself did say downvotes could be used for showing simple disagreement, and many people seem to agree even today.
If people use downvotes to show disagreement, than HN is sunk. No-one likes downvotes, and it will create a community where people only post those comments that they think everyone will agree with.
Instead, downvotes should only be sed to highlight comments that should never have been made.
Dude, that ship sailed some time ago. And I say this as someone who agrees with the HN "mob" on most things. The hardcore libertarian-randist opinions you'd see relatively often around here have all but disappeared.
It's the signals destroying trust that create the animosity, and will tend to make it harder to have decent, respectful, working relationships with integration partners. It reads as lopsided and occurring unilaterally, without any degree of trust or respect for said partners.
Obviously, what Linden is saying in this case is probably not helping his business case. It's clear to me that he either does not understand why Maciej doesn't want to implement a private API, or does not wish to understand it.
On the other hand, neither of those things are grounds for a downvote, I think. A downvote says "this content shouldn't be on HN" -- that there's something about a comment that detracts from how the community operates. Linden has been completely respectful in what he says and how he says it. Maybe that's not the case in what he's asking his users to do, but we may as well let him ask.