they pretty much died with the rise of community sites like reddit and such. people post links and comment there.
But if you have the inmates police themselves (like the reddit community), problem solved.
To put it in concrete terms: HN is moderated. Reddit is policed by the inmates. Which is a better community? I'll take HN by a fair distance.
I understand where you're coming from.
That being said, I knew reddit will begine to wobble when it went corporate