It seems the perfect circumstances to really last. It doesn't have an invasive business model, or investors screaming for ROI either. That's the kind of thing that often leads to user-hostile changes that so often start the decline into oblivion.
Also, I would imagine it's pretty cheap to host, after all it's all very simple text, I don't think it hosts any pictures beside the little Ycombinator logo in the corner :)
Hopefully archive.org is involved in archiving HN, though unfortunately archive.org's future itself is in jeopardy.
How so?? This is the first I've heard of it.
Here are some relevant links:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31703394
https://decrypt.co/31906/activists-rally-save-internet-archi...
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17211300/hachette-book-...
I guess it got them some goodwill during Corona but it could cause more damage than it's worth.
I wouldn't have done it, it was not like it was a real value during the pandemic. Those who are really into books and don't care about copyright already know their way to more gray-area sites like LibGen.