Yes, there are a considerable range of use cases. There are also considerable use cases for many blindingly obvious/simple snippets of Python code. That does not mean they deserve to be blogged about / posted to HN / upvoted or anything other than ridiculed.
Besides it's prone to false positives such as DNS not working. So, not only is it mind boggling obvious it's flippin wrong.
Re:Testing A Proxy In Python
by jodrellblank on Friday May 14, 2010 @10:00AM
(#1347340)
But they do deserve something other than ridicule (Reddi-cule?), they deserve ignoring.
A HN with either good comments or no comments sounds much better than a HN with good comments or trollish smug mocking comments. Especially since there is so much more room for poor comments than good comments, I think there's a tendency for sites to get flooded with cheap shot replies.
"One word: Salads", 4 upvotes. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1346264. Come on!
"Word": http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1346662
It's annoying.
I do it and I shouldn't be allowed to get away with it either. Cheap shot one word answer: 4 upvotes, long detailed answer: 0 votes or replies. Sigh.
Your lack of the need for this script does not excuse the short sightedness of your sarcasm. And I am glad you were brave enough to sign up to use a new account to make that comment, nice to see the dominion of the Internet troll extends it's stony fist into the halls of HN.