This isn’t slashdot. This is not a server under someone’s desk. This is not a quirky fight for freedom through internet protocols. Y combinator is power, influence, money, and all the abuse that may come with that.
Slashdot, reddit, and HN are similar in that the source code was available. For HN, as part of arc under the Artistic license. All 3 abandoned public source code releases.
My understanding is that for a long time HN was more or less a server under Graham's desk. But I wasn't there so maybe it's more like I believe in a rumor.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/slashcode/
https://github.com/arclanguage/anarki
https://github.com/reddit-archive/reddit