Hacker News: TFNA

New comment by TFNA in "A Tour of Oodi"

TFNA — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 17:22:41 +0000

Your two posts here evince a lack of understanding of Finnish culture (cultural subsidy, and the creation of state jobs for cultural workers, is not particularly controversial here) and the particular challenges that Finnish society has to deal with (yes, people could do frivolous stuff at home, but the point is to get them outside doing stuff with other people).

The films I have seen screened in Oodi are often serious, edifying stuff. It is no different from the publically funded cinematheques that have existed in many European countries for long decades now. Fear of homeless people taking over the bookable facilities is completely ignorant of how they are apportioned.

New comment by TFNA in "Previously unknown verses by Empedocles found on papyrus"

TFNA — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 17:18:07 +0000

This isn't ready for the general public yet. When a new manuscript is discovered, the first stage is determining readings, which obviously is a process for experts consulting among themselves. Then, an edition of the original-language text is prepared and, again, if you aren't trained in Ancient Greek the text still isn't ready for you. Only then is a translation into a modern language created.

After that, you can probably read it online for free, whether through open access or the shadow libraries. Nobody is keeping anything from you.

New comment by TFNA in "A Tour of Oodi"

TFNA — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:30:42 +0000

Nah, I might be a hermit and misanthrope who prefers books to people and hates crotch goblins running around, but I can still see the value for general society of a third space open to everyone, young and old. Especially when many people are hurting these days from lack of IRL contact, and the alternative would be expensive for-pay locations like coffee joints or pubs.

New comment by TFNA in "A Tour of Oodi"

TFNA — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:06:02 +0000

As a Helsinki resident, I agree with much of what you say about Oodi. And in spite of the other commenter claiming "everyone" loves it, I don't nor do many of my peers of an intellectual bent, mad about books. This building only disappoints us.

But here is the thing: in Finland academic libraries are open to the general public. Someone wanting to immerse themselves in actual books, or work in silence, have a wealth of options in downtown Helsinki: the University of Helsinki main library, the Finnish National Library, the Finnish Literature Society's library, the Research Institute for Languages of Finland's library, and more. So, if Oodi ended up being a plain old social third space instead of a "real library", that didn't take anything away from Helsinki residents.