&gt; HN is kept this way on purpose. That the GenPop doesn&#x27;t like it is a feature, not a bug.<p>The &quot;GenPop&quot; don&#x27;t even know this site exists and, if they did, would be turned away by the content, not the layout.<p>That argument is made here often, that somehow liking the plainness of HN&#x27;s layout is a shibboleth to detect quality users, but i&#x27;ve never really bought into it. Sites like Craigslist, Reddit and 4chan manage to do quite will with relatively simple looks and broader appeal.