> They are perfectly able to add features to the site, and would absolutely add a feature if they thought it was as important as you think this one is.
I mean we're talking about the forum software that can't handle more than a few hundred comments without resorting to pagination, so I feel justified in my thesis that engineering hours going into HN are pretty limited.
Again, you're not doing much to convince me you've actually gone out of your way to have a conversation with them.
They have other fish to fry, because maintaining a community doesn't just mean maintaining a codebase. They have a bunch of existing code that is architected in a way that makes some changes (like removing the comment render limit) not so easy. Though some of the consequences are annoying, they've never stopped anyone from using HN.
My personal experience is that they are implementing features and doing experiments, and it seems to me you've just never bothered to reach out and check with them because you think you know better.
Enjoy your thesis, or whatever. They're nice people and I recommend emailing them.
I mean we're talking about the forum software that can't handle more than a few hundred comments without resorting to pagination, so I feel justified in my thesis that engineering hours going into HN are pretty limited.