Before move semantics the HeavyObject problem was solved in most cases by specializing std::swap for each container.

The design lesson I draw from this is that pursing a 100% general solution to a real problem is often worse than accepting a crude solution which covers the most important cases.

my take looking at languages beyond C++ is a very different one

you want a well working general solution which works well (most of the time for most of the "generic code" (i.e. good defaults for the default use-case).

and then add escape hatches for micro-optimizations, micro-control etc.

C++ on the other hand was deeply rooted designed with micro optimizations and micro control first.

"Generic solutions" where then tried to be added on top, but not by changing a badly working abstraction/design but by adding more abstraction layers and complexity on top. And with a high requirements for back/forward compatibility, not just with the language but ton of different tooling. That this isn't playing out well is kinda not really surprising IMHO. I mean adding more abstraction layers instead of fixing existing abstraction layers rarely plays out well (1) especially if the things you add are pretty leaky abstractions.

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(1): In context of them archiving overall the same goal with just different details and no clear boundaries. Layering very different kind of layers is normal and does make sense in a lot of situations. Just what C++ does is like layering "a generic system programming language" (modern C++) on top of "a generic system programming language" (old C++) without clear boundaries.

C++ does have reasonable defaults. You never have to worry about move if you are using standard containers or unique_ptr.

But eventually those escape hatches come bite you and you need to worry about.

Complexity is inherent to the system. Wrapping it in a nice interface doesn’t make it go away.

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The problem I see is move semantics are a real thing in programming languages where types can own resources.

Most languages just choose not to handle them well or limit their feature set. For example swift tries to use copy on write to avoid it

So eventually feature creep happens and you get borrowing/move.

Same. I’ve read all the books. Written all these things at least a few times. It’s just not doable post C++11.

I can make a bot that touches each line of code and commits it, if you would like.

Was stack overflow the last stand of web gamification?

The gamification was in large part misaligned with the site's objectives. It's a shame Atwood and Spolsky didn't realize the problems and didn't explicitly solicit and incorporate feedback about it basically ever. (Not that random user proposals were ever especially good, but.)

At Codidact we're trying to build systems that hand out privileges based on actions taken that are relevant to the privilege. There's still a reputation system but the per-user numbers are relatively de-emphasized. And posts are by default sorted by Wilson score, with separate up/down counts visible to everyone by default, so that downvotes on an upvoted post (and vice-versa) have meaningful effect and "bad" voting can be more easily corrected. There's also a system of "reactions" for posts so that people willing to put their username behind it can explicitly mark an answer as outdated or dangerous.

So much is removed that it gives a false appearance of consensus and harmony.

AFAIK, not a lot in HN gets outright removed. A decent amount of stuff will get flagged (and thus becomes invisible) especially when it's anywhere near politics.

But even in those spaces, few things end up actually being flagged even when the flames are burning hot.

This is not my experience. So many comments are flagged and removed. It’s just popularity.

I think it’s fine they are hidden by default. But unt we can see all removed comments we can’t understand the debate.

> I think it’s fine they are hidden by default. But unt we can see all removed comments we can’t understand the debate.

Do you have showdead on?

Yes. It’s not enough and I’m confused why.

Then how do you know that more comments are being removed?

Because I’m participating in those threads and then they go away.

/active vs the actual front page here are two very very very different experiences.

How much correlation is there between positive sentiment and blatant marketing?

You act like this is an enigma. Let’s start with people without college degrees and no family history of college degrees.

Surely there are people who have it worse than that, no?

It isn't necessary to identify the world's most unfortunate person to recognize that most redditors have privileged lives, yet choose to wallow in misery.

I just choose to not let what redditors do bother me.

I don’t think Reddit is representative of poor people. It skews educated and white collar.

I don’t think Craig gets enough blame. He’s the one who just loves gadget features and shiny stuff. I don’t think Apple has championed a single Mac feature around making your computer more a powerful system for professional work since he has taken over.