The 'pattern' is that comments are supposed to provide some value and not just generic statements. The HN community overall doesn't want the comment section to turn into a Facebook comment style section.
So if you're going to comment, at least have something to back it up or give something that contributes to the quality of the discussion.
"Cool story but at least try to give some argumentation when you say stuff like:
>The design of the language in Dockerfile is ad hoc in a bad way. It’s difficult to understand, for me, and easy to make mistakes.
Because that reads like a skill issue to me"
Those comments also add nothing to the discussion (but they make the person who posts them feel INCREDIBLY smug).
And regardless, your digging into my comment history just to prove your worthless point is proof enough that this community is insufferable -- I wasn't complaining about asking for sources, I was complaining about not being sincere about it.
Not that different from LinkedIn to be honest, when you tie your identity to your HN account.