Oh yeah, I know it's business and I'm not suggesting someone missed out on an ideal candidate. I was really just thinking it through and thinking about how people at the fringe see the world and how hard it is to cross that barrier.
Part of that is mediated by my experience when I first discovered his site. I was learning about Emacs when I found it, I'm pretty sure. Anyway, there was something I thought was pretty interesting - might or might not have been Emacs related - so I submitted it to HN. Showed up dead, immediately. Apparently his site was banned. It no longer is, of course.
But that's the way his relationship with the tech world was structured - banned by HN. Now maybe he had been spamming submissions or trolling, but it's possible his site was just blocked because it was Xah Lee: I mean there are people in this thread who are still judging him based on his behavior a decade or two ago.
A person who has spent a lifetime as an outsider is likely to have a different set of defense mechanisms - a different set of survival skills. What I was getting at is that the thing you both were interested in on a personal rather than a business level was his website. Unlike his 'professional career' it's something he can take full credit for and which is objectively worth being proud of - it's full of useful content.
My sense is that creating content is what he could be exceptionally productive. Maybe what's called for is an agent and an editor.
Part of that is mediated by my experience when I first discovered his site. I was learning about Emacs when I found it, I'm pretty sure. Anyway, there was something I thought was pretty interesting - might or might not have been Emacs related - so I submitted it to HN. Showed up dead, immediately. Apparently his site was banned. It no longer is, of course.
But that's the way his relationship with the tech world was structured - banned by HN. Now maybe he had been spamming submissions or trolling, but it's possible his site was just blocked because it was Xah Lee: I mean there are people in this thread who are still judging him based on his behavior a decade or two ago.
A person who has spent a lifetime as an outsider is likely to have a different set of defense mechanisms - a different set of survival skills. What I was getting at is that the thing you both were interested in on a personal rather than a business level was his website. Unlike his 'professional career' it's something he can take full credit for and which is objectively worth being proud of - it's full of useful content.
My sense is that creating content is what he could be exceptionally productive. Maybe what's called for is an agent and an editor.