I don't think it's a criticism of the people who read the article, rather of those who posted it. Just like logging a bug, you should make sure someone hasn't logged it already. A bit of repetition on a yearly basis would be fine, but if all popular articles or topics were posted monthly or more with no added information, you can see how it would kill HN. And just like the bug example, there would be benefit if all comments were funneled to existing threads.
And then it gives the chance for the old-timers to lord over the newbies here, so there's a bit of that.
This particular article, however, is somewhat of a special case. The fact that programmers don't seem to understand big-O notation is a concern to me. I think it is as fundamental to programming as knives are to a chef, something that should be learned in any CS study, or intuitive to any self-taught programmer.
And then it gives the chance for the old-timers to lord over the newbies here, so there's a bit of that.
This particular article, however, is somewhat of a special case. The fact that programmers don't seem to understand big-O notation is a concern to me. I think it is as fundamental to programming as knives are to a chef, something that should be learned in any CS study, or intuitive to any self-taught programmer.