Sure, as long as it's gentle. I just don't want a discussion on why it is wrong to not make the bar black or what not. And as I said, I see this in a long tradition of making people do stuff because somebody died, which I don't like. It's all peachy as long as people comply, but if they don't, suddenly they might be labeled as cold hearted, sociopathic or whatever. Why not just let it be an individual thing?
As somebody else pointed out, PG is probably still asleep and will probably black the bar anyway. I don't think he needs a reminder. Also, I know nothing about his personal feelings towards Aaron.
1) It pretty obviously is gentle. In the most extreme scenario pg is bullied into briefly making a minor change to the CSS.
2) HN is a community site, which exists and thrives largely because of the community. I can't see anything wrong with members of said community making suggestions on occasion, particularly on occasions like this.
3) People are far too quick to take offence these days, particularly on the internet. IMHO the world would be a better place if these people were instructed to get over it rather than pandered to.
4) Finally PG is free to say no and I for one will not judge him ill for it.
I didn't take offense in the sense of "if you do this I'll find you and beat you up". It was just my lack of English skills. What I mean is I don't like it. Obviously nobody will notice if I join in demonstrative mourning or not over the internet, so no real harm is done. I also don't mind a black bar on HN - I find this event very sad myself.
I upvoted you because I think it is wrong to downvote something you don't agree with but which is otherwise
a) Not spam
b) Not offensive
c) Not useless
So it's the rest of HN against me now? Anyway, I'm off, I said my opinion and that's it. It's not a thing to rationally argue about at this point in time.
Mourning the loss of someone is a personal thing, yes. Friends, parents, teachers will mourn his absence in a deeply personal way, fondly holding on to fading memories.
The encouragement to black out HN is an acknowledgement of a communal loss. This is not "everyone change their desktops to his face." This is "let's unobtrusively black out the top bar of a site frequented by people just like him." This is someone who made contributions to the software community and fought for open access to information. People of similar calibre fought and continue to fight to keep the internet free and open.
It is not just for him, but to demonstrate as a community that we're here for anyone else facing similar issues. It shouldn't be "offensive" as a group to recognize our like-minded allegiance to the ideas and vision he passionately pursued.
I wouldn't be offended by a black bar. I just don't like calling on other people to do stuff. Likewise you could ask of a widow to wear black for a year, and if she wouldn't, you could start gossiping and badmouthing her.
Also, there are more and more people who go through HN. Perhaps eventually the bar has to be black all the time because somebody always dies.
Do you come across a kind, thoughtful suggestion and think "what's the most controversial comment I can write to score some karma" or something? Because honestly, there's no rational universe where your comment remotely makes sense.
And yes, it is Hacker News against you now, as you victimize yourself below. I sure as shit think this comment is disgusting, I hate that you left it, and I'd certainly hope that people would call you out for it (or I'd lose faith in the community). It's comments like this that make Hacker News look terrible to people that don't contribute, and it's one of those comments that's better left thought in your head.
Aaron was involved in this community in multiple ways, God forbid people express themselves at your displeasure.
It's really sad because Aaron's death hit me pretty hard last night, and I wake up this morning and see this suggestion and think "boy, I bet someone's going to piss in the Cheerios in that thread," and it almost hurts that I'm right. What a terrible place this is becoming.
See you are already blind with rage. Somebody died, and you want to leash out and find somebody to blame.
I feel sad about his death, too. I have nothing against black bars or mourning. Just against telling other people how to feel, which incidentally you do again with your post. You are sad, so you are entitled to hate me. You are welcome.
Black out your own web site. Mourning is a personal thing. If PG decides he wants to black bar HN, he will do it. If not, he won't. What's it to you?