Fyi, HN uses a limited version of markdown which doesn’t recognize standard markdown list syntax. If you want to make a bullet list, you have to put blank lines between each bullet point, like this:
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- "No trackers, no javascript, no stylesheets"
- inline js.
- inline stylesheets.
- uses favicon which can be used for tracking.
- not self hosted.
- requires an account to sign up
- "TOS" > "Bear may disclose personally identifiable information under special circumstances, such as to comply with subpoenas or when your actions violate the Terms of Service."
Please don’t say HN uses any form of Markdown. It’s its own thing entirely with absolutely no foundation in Markdown—the only points of any similarity between Markdown and HN comment formatting predate both by multiple decades. HN’s formatting gives you paragraph breaks (by blank lines), linkification (with no delimiter, unlike stock Markdown which requires angle brackets, to the surprise of many), monospaced blocks (by two space indentation), italics (with asterisk delimiter), backslash escaping for asterisks, and that’s all. Every element of this, or a very slight variant, has been common in lightweight markdown languages since before Markdown, and all but the backslash escaping and hyperlinks (which hadn’t been invented yet!) have been in conventional use in communication since well before the web (and match some typewriter conventions from before the invention of computers).
Markdown is not the only game in town. Yes, for now it’s the dominant lightweight markup language (more’s the pity—it’s a right mess, thoroughly unsound and inconsistent in a great many ways), but a lot of stuff exists beyond its horizons; it’s only an instance of LMLs, not the whole class.
——
- "No trackers, no javascript, no stylesheets"
- inline js.
- inline stylesheets.
- uses favicon which can be used for tracking.
- not self hosted.
- requires an account to sign up
- "TOS" > "Bear may disclose personally identifiable information under special circumstances, such as to comply with subpoenas or when your actions violate the Terms of Service."
- can't be bothered to indent the html.
- payment system could require real identity