I could be wrong, but I also could be pretty close to right.
I think the RSS feed tracks http://news.ycombinator.com/newest , the new link in the top menu bar. The feed and new link appear to me to be in reverse chron order.
If you don't visit often, your rss reader should keep track of everything until you check in; without the points/comments, as you point out.
If you check in often enough, following the new page should be the best of both worlds: chron, and points/comments.
In answer to your title question, I:
- click on interesting stuff in my rss reader
- then look through the first couple of pages of the front page to see what's gathering comments that I'm interested in
- then, if I still haven't found enough to keep me from working, I look at the new page to see if there's anything I haven't seen yet.
I think the RSS feed tracks http://news.ycombinator.com/newest , the new link in the top menu bar. The feed and new link appear to me to be in reverse chron order.
If you don't visit often, your rss reader should keep track of everything until you check in; without the points/comments, as you point out.
If you check in often enough, following the new page should be the best of both worlds: chron, and points/comments.
In answer to your title question, I: - click on interesting stuff in my rss reader - then look through the first couple of pages of the front page to see what's gathering comments that I'm interested in - then, if I still haven't found enough to keep me from working, I look at the new page to see if there's anything I haven't seen yet.