# gwern.net

19 Hacker News commenters recommended gwern.net and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free, dense, well-researched essays with rich interlinking and polished typography; critics say the writing lacks personality.

## Why people recommend it

- Dense, well-written, thoughtful essays (3 comments): "it let me read good, well written thinking I had never seen from the NYTs or my parents" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48156763)) "Some of Gwerns's articles are evergreens and I really like them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50103353)) "I still admire the density and efficiency" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47123647))
- Excellent typography and design (2 comments): "I frequently visit your website to get design inspiration for my own." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48341241)) "absolute best blog typography in the last 30 yrs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48472906))
- Richly catalogued, interlinked content (2 comments): "I like how much information is spread across the site. It's satisfying to explore on a desktop." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46758782)) "absurdly catalogued personal site" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48915649))
- Distinctive style and voice (2 comments): "I wanted to have a thing that grows alongside me over time and it seems very much like your website is that" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48341002)) "I absolutely love your website and the style and voice it has" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48343009))

## What people warn about

- Lacks personality and voice (1 comments): "Gwern’s writing lacks personality to me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46760312))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Simon Willison's blog](https://hackerapproved.com/p/simon-willison-s-blog.md): 21 recommend
- [acoup.blog](https://hackerapproved.com/p/acoup-blog.md): 19 recommend
- [Julia Evans blog](https://hackerapproved.com/p/julia-evans-blog.md): 11 recommend
- [computer.rip by J.B. Crawford](https://hackerapproved.com/p/computer-rip.md): 9 recommend
- [Eclectic Light blog by Howard Oakley](https://hackerapproved.com/p/eclectic-light-company-blog.md): 9 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "gwern.net", https://hackerapproved.com/p/gwern-net/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).