I think that it is a jerk thing to do if your service is exactly the same as the one in the thread, however in this case the first poster has identified some annoying problems with Google's system, so pointing out your own system which (I assume), doesn't have these problems is constructive advice (In my opinion).
I never said it wasn't useful information to have. Just that it was a classless thing to do. Let your customers speak for you, or blow your own horn in your own announcement thread.
God I hate marketers. Crapping on social norms and basic manners for a quick buck every day of the week.
The guy is not a marketer, hes a product guy at Heroku. He has over 15k karma and a member of HN for ~6 years. This is far from "some spammer decided to hijack a thread about a competitors product".
I really don't get what you're talking about here. It's constructive for anyone that is looking for a free tier of Go hosting, which we know is at least one person.
Yes, I hate over the top marketing as much as anyone, but this isn't that.
I guess it's just me then. The way I see it, this is like the guy who proposes in front of everyone at a wedding. It's not your day, don't come and try and steal the limelight.
Heroku guy should have just pulled the other marketer trick... get a stooge to post a thread asking "Can someone compare GAE and Heroku". This way he could promote his product without looking like a jerk.
In someone else's product announcement thread, STFU about your product. If it's good enough, your customers will mention it. Basic manners really.
As you can see, I've gone way overboard on this. This will be my last post. I'm just pissed because EVERY hn announcement thread is like this. Someone does something and announces it, and you'll see "oh I did it first... and mine is better and cheaper, ignore his".
You ask "I really don't get what you're talking about here."
Well heroku guy knows what I'm talking about... that's why he prefaced his self-promotion with "shameless plug" like all the others that do.
Except saying "shameless plug" doesn't make it any less shameful.
Most people coming to view this are interested in Go hosting support. The fact that Heroku just added this support (with a free tier) is pretty awesome and I don't think I would have found out about it without the "shameless plug." I bet you would have gotten upset at any of the "customers" if they would have posted about Heroku in this thread. I think it's very different than your wedding example.
