A command-line HackerNews lister and opener
This is a simple script for pulling down the HN homepage articles, as well as opening the article links in a browser via the command line. I designed this primarily for use in GeekTool, with the idea being that it would always be on my desktop, and any time an article looks interesting to me I just type hn <number> and be on my merry way.
To use out of the box (in the bin directory):
$ node hn [-ca] <article_no>
I did this to make my life easier:
$ ln -s /path/to/node-hn/bin/hn ~/bin/hn
Run without arguments:
$ hn
Produces:
HackerNews
0 Want to Block Common Passwords? Sorry, That is Patented
1 Solar panels could destroy U.S. utilities, according to U.S. utilities
2 Show HN: Hospice.io €“ Vagrant configurations generator
3 Single page apps in depth
4 Exposed Webcam Viewer
5 Canada's Guide to patents
So now all I have to do when I see an interesing article on my desktop is:
$ hn <article_no>
And the article opens in the nearest browser window! Pretty neat!
If I want to see the comments page instead:
$ hn -c <article_no>
Or if I want to open both the article and the comments:
$ hn -a <article_no>
If I want to specify how many articles are displayed (very useful for geektool):
$ hn -n <number>
Have fun!