It's a news aggregator, not a source. In fact, it's only really got two primary functions: allow users to post arbitrary links, and allow users to comment on th

It's a news aggregator, not a source. In fact, it's only really got two primary functions: allow users to post arbitrary links, and allow users to comment on them. Most news sources however have three primary functions: Identify, Write, and Publish news. Commenting in HN is key to its existence; Commenting in news sources just happens to be a thing available. Saying that comments works in HN is like saying comments work on reddit; it's trivially true, assuming the site is in any way functional/popular. But that doesn't mean comments are useful on NYT; take away comments and there really wouldn't be much lost from its primary goals.