[acta_non_verba]

I don’t think this kind of response is good for hacker news. It’s just rudeness masked by being patronising.

[pjc50]

The original comment by sneak was seemingly deliberately obtuse, which it itself a form of rudeness.

[oefrha]

Yes. But as dang says every so often, don't reply to a bad comment with another bad comment. This "I know you're not that stupid" thing is obviously not necessary. Leave that out and we wouldn't be having this conversation about what's acceptable and what's not.

[hug]

It's neither rude nor patronising. The guy isn't an idiot, and I'm genuinely curious about what he thinks -- I don't think I know better than him, I think he has made a rash comment.