Posts

New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: How do teams remember why infrastructure decisions were made?

Ask HN: How do teams remember why infrastructure decisions were made? 4 by curious_sre | 2 comments on Hacker News. On teams I’ve worked with, we often run into systems where nobody really knows why certain configs, services, or architectural choices exist. Docs are outdated, Slack history is messy, and the people who made the decision are often gone. When something breaks, we end up rediscovering the same context over and over. Is this just inevitable on long-lived systems, or do experienced teams have a better way of preserving this kind of context?

New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: Is anyone using LLM based document processing in production?

Ask HN: Is anyone using LLM based document processing in production? 3 by asdev | 3 comments on Hacker News. I'm wondering if anyone is actually using LLMs to process documents reliably in production. One hallucination could lead to a host of issues. For example, if someone is using LLMs to process documents and enter data into an ERP, if even one number is off it could cause accounting issues, inventory issues etc. Human in the loop doesn't help because the human would just have to read the document themselves to ensure accuracy, defeating the point of the automation.

New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: Who here is not working on web apps/server code?

Ask HN: Who here is not working on web apps/server code? 5 by ex-aws-dude | 3 comments on Hacker News. I feel like reading HN sometimes there is the assumption that everyone who is a programmer by default works on web stuff (front end/back end). I'm curious to hear about what other jobs/domains exist outside of this and how it is working on non-web stuff.

New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: Does anyone understand how Hacker News works?

Ask HN: Does anyone understand how Hacker News works? 5 by jannesblobel | 9 comments on Hacker News. When working on my projects and talking to investors, I often hear: “Just post it on Hacker News or Reddit and show that people love it.” What I find strange is that Hacker News feels oddly opaque. I’ve never met anyone who can clearly explain how it works in practice. Not just the rules, but the dynamics: what’s repeatable, what’s luck, and what actually matters. By using the Kevin Bacon-number idea: I can usually get within three degrees of separation of well-known technologists like Linus Torvalds, but I can’t seem to get within three steps of someone who confidently understands how HN works. So I’m asking sincerely: Does anyone here feel they understand Hacker News? If so, what are the real levers, and what do people consistently misunderstand? PS: This question comes from a mix of genuine curiosity and personal frustration. I’m honestly trying to understand how HN works in pract...

New ask Hacker News story: How Much Energy Does One Solar Panel Produce in Australia?

How Much Energy Does One Solar Panel Produce in Australia? 4 by scorpeoanlibra | 0 comments on Hacker News. Interesting to see how Australia is hitting the solar saturation limit. In Victoria especially, the VEU upgrades are shifting the focus from 'how many panels' to 'how efficient is the load' (heat pumps, etc). We wrote a piece on what a single 400W+ panel actually produces in the current AU grid environment versus what the sales guys claim. Link for those interested: https://ift.tt/KZsJUGf

New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: Should I start a software foundation (goal: help emergency services)?

Ask HN: Should I start a software foundation (goal: help emergency services)? 2 by strgcmc | 0 comments on Hacker News. I've been on a business trip this week, and sitting on the plane, I was randomly browsing NYT and read this article which really REALLY pissed me off: https://ift.tt/JbKHCZI TLDR: Private equity is buying up all these software vendors, and preying upon vulnerable fire departments; one rural department with a total budget of $130k/yr saw their software costs go up 3x in one year (from $4k/yr to $12k/yr). I want to do something. I have not worked in the emergency services domain before, so I know that I am naive. I do have experience with oncall and mission-critical software maintenance and highly available/durable services, but when I say mission critical I mean millions-of-dollars at risk, not human lives. I want to solicit HN for very early directional advice, of any and all kinds. - Are there some existing open source projects or foundations with a mission li...

New ask Hacker News story: Ask HN: What are your predictions for 2026?

Ask HN: What are your predictions for 2026? 6 by mfrw | 2 comments on Hacker News. What are your predictions for this coming year?