What you did here is not cool.<p>On HN, we start from the benefit of the doubt. A person can be both a programmer and a judge. pqdbr&#x27;s comment was coherent and plausible. The null hypothesis is therefore that pqdbr is making a valuable contribution.<p>It&#x27;s fine and interesting to look through someone&#x27;s comment history for background. It can also be ok to ask questions based on that, but this is always delicate and must be done respectfully. But to dig around for a bit, leap to a sinister conclusion, and fling it at them with a couple insults for good measure is a serious violation of civility on this site.<p>HN members with outlier backgrounds (and &#x27;judge&#x27; certainly is one) are some of the most valuable contributors we have; doubly so—if not more—when they speak computing too. Imagine what it would feel like to share from one&#x27;s expertise in the most on-topic way possible, only to be randomly slapped in the face and have your character impugned. You owe pqdbr a lot more of an apology than &quot;Cool! Always happy to be wrong when evidence supports it.&quot; (Edit: which, now that I think of it, reads more like a humblebrag than making amends.)<p>We detached this subthread from <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10751003" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10751003</a> and marked it off-topic.