HN Software Criticism Debate

Comments debate the validity of criticizing software products on Hacker News, contrasting defensive responses like 'use something else' with arguments defending the right to provide feedback without using or contributing to the tool.

➡️ Stable 0.5x Other
3,942
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#7143
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
9
2008
31
2009
54
2010
83
2011
143
2012
173
2013
196
2014
156
2015
157
2016
183
2017
218
2018
184
2019
247
2020
262
2021
370
2022
367
2023
405
2024
316
2025
356
2026
32

Keywords

IT OP HN DARE OK ALL product tool criticism software feedback comment faults complaining techies mailing list

Sample Comments

dns_snek Feb 26, 2024 View on HN

"If you don't like it, use something else". Gee, thanks, but we were discussing its flaws.

evoneutron Aug 27, 2018 View on HN

so many haters on HN. maybe write smt useful yourself before criticizing the product

hugs Aug 22, 2025 View on HN

i'm always amazed by the over-the-top criticism. did you pay money for it? were you forced to use it? did you try to help improve it?

oblib Jul 26, 2017 View on HN

It's funny I got down voted for that comment. I'm not sure why they'd take offense with my opinions above. I didn't say they were wrong, I just whined and complained about why I didn't use it.And whining and complaining can have merit. For example, you can whine and complain to your landlord about your A/C not working and they may not want to hear it, or pay to fix it, but it won't get fixed until you do.If you ask me, I'll tell you this has been fix

shawndellysse Feb 15, 2018 View on HN

User: "I don't use product $X because it doesn't support $Y"Dev: I'm gonna be a dick and make false equivalences because I personally am not affected by product $X not supporting $YUser: ...

svckr Aug 14, 2017 View on HN

- complains about people being told to use a different tool- goes on to tell people to use a different tool

craftoman May 5, 2020 View on HN

I'm not trying to offend anyone but am I the only one here who doesn't like the way this tool is pitched? It is mentioned on HN like a dozen times before.

Technically Jan 11, 2021 View on HN

Why would you gripe that a person uses your software but cares too much?

gonewest Oct 22, 2015 View on HN

I'm not sure I'm following you, but in short I'm not trying to attack this piece of software. All I'm saying is that I have a particular point of view and it appears based on the description that this tool isn't the one for me.

panorama Feb 10, 2017 View on HN

Relax, friend. The majority of people are not freaking out over this. Surely you have better things to do than nitpick about this and call other people's products shitty. I recommend choosing to be more positive instead. Have a nice day.