if the condescending tone of the top comment is ignored it becomes valuable feedback. good libraries/api's (free or otherwise) do not need to use marketing buzzwords to sell themselves when a clear demonstration of the functionality is usually more than enough.
see the python requests library documentation for a good example
Did you seriously just recommend Requests, a project which uses "Non-GMO", "organic", and "grass-fed" to describe itself on the very page you linked, as a good example of not using buzzwords?
Come on. kreitz holds the title of Python marketspeak tycoon for a reason. :P
>if the condescending tone of the top comment is ignored it becomes valuable feedback. good libraries/api's (free or otherwise) do not need to use marketing buzzwords to sell themselves when a clear demonstration of the functionality is usually more than enough.
this fallacy is called affirming the consequent. yes good libraries might not need marketing but that does not say anything about whether good libraries can have marketing.
its anyone's best guess whether apis/libraries with documentation that have buzzword-y marketing get more usage than those that entirely market themselves based on functionality.
Think of buzzwords as familiar faces for the readers. Sure, you can overdo it and make a buzzword soup, but a few buzzword can give the reader a quick idea of the product.
I think the more practical piece of advice is for people like zestyping to constructively offer their (valid) perspective on writing style without personalizing the criticism. I recognize however that offering such advice may be a fruitless endeavor depending on the person (like expecting a leopard to change its spots). Source: zestyping needlessly insulted me in front of colleagues over 10 years ago and it still stings a bit :-D
Publicly deriding me as having an irreparable character flaw, based on something I said over ten years ago, which I can't possibly defend or apologize for because I have no idea who you are or what you're referring to—doesn't that seem a little low, though?
It sounds like this is still bothering you after all this time. Please consider reaching out to me (my e-mail address is my HN username at gmail); I'd be glad if we could sort this out in a private conversation. I can't promise that I'll take back what I said without knowing what it was, but I will do my best to understand what you experienced and why it was upsetting to you.
see the python requests library documentation for a good example
http://docs.python-requests.org/en/master/