Comment by rdl
10 years ago
Offering Pinboard $20k but NOT a YCF slot seems like the most unambiguously correct thing to do. Sadly, I do not have $20k to give.
(and then the correct thing for him to do is either politely turn it down, or donate it to a charity or something of mutual agreeableness)
I disagree. Offering him $20k would simply be rewarding him for being obnoxious. I refuse to accept that he honestly believed that YC was running a $20k contest to see who could solicit the most votes via twitter, but that's exactly what he's pretending that this was.
As opposed to a $20k contest to see who could solicit the most votes via word-of-mouth in the Bay Area? Because that would have been totally fine, of course.
> rewarding him for being obnoxious.
What about rewarding honest HN community members who voted for him in good faith? Ignoring their wishes is a big slap in the face; we've been reminded that we're all just plebes and real power will always lie with Big (White) Men and their gut feelings.
As opposed to a $20k contest to see who could solicit the most votes via word-of-mouth in the Bay Area? Because that would have been totally fine, of course.
Of course not. But I haven't seen any evidence that anyone was doing that.
honest HN community members who voted for him in good faith?
How many such people exist? I don't think anyone knows. Unfortunately the vote spam which he solicited via twitter overwhelmed any other signal.
Even if this was supposed to be entirely decided on the basis of votes -- which is explicitly not what was planned from the start -- when people cheat they normally get disqualified. You don't say "this Olympic athlete took steroids, but maybe he should keep his medal... after all, he might have won even without the drugs".
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