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[return to "Tell HN: Paywalls with workarounds are OK; paywall complaints are off topic"]
1. minima+L[view] [source] 2015-09-06 21:14:12
>>dang+(OP)
> paywalls that leave ways for readers to work around them

I would call pasting-the-URL-into-Google-Search less of a intentional workaround and more of a trick to take advantage of the websites' compliance with Google rules.

Not every HN reader would know to do that, or look in the comments for that "workaround."

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2. dang+T[view] [source] 2015-09-06 21:16:16
>>minima+L
> Not every HN reader would know to do that.

That's right, so it's ok for people to ask and share how to read an article in the comments. There shouldn't need to be more than one or two comments about this, and it helps everyone focus on the content.

What's off-topic is the generic tangent of paywall complaining.

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3. stretc+a1[view] [source] 2015-09-06 21:22:26
>>dang+T
So all I need to do is read every comment, then I can try to find out how to read the article?
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4. michae+R1[view] [source] 2015-09-06 21:30:54
>>stretc+a1
That's one option. You can also google the title or URL of the article (this is the most common workaround); or you can search the comments for the word 'paywall'; or you can purchase a membership or subscription for the paywalled site; or you can skip reading the article.
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5. jsprog+L2[view] [source] 2015-09-06 21:45:59
>>michae+R1
So all I need to do is try every possible option? And even then it may fail (scientific journals, newspaper archives, etc)?

The links are just huge wastes of time. A prominent tag attached to the article would be ok, but in the absence of any other feature to avoid these time sinks, it makes sense to flag the articles to save others from additional wastage.

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6. DanBC+lo[view] [source] 2015-09-07 07:58:45
>>jsprog+L2
The links are a waste of time to you. Other people have useful subscriptions or know the work-arounds and those links are useful to them.

Of the flood of links posted to /newest the paywalled links are nowhere near the most problematic.

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