Heck no. Last time I tried to make an account, someone had to invite you, or you had to prove yourself to them by showing your GitHub as if it was your CV.

Lurking is free, so I went to check what these pro hackers were posting and commenting: many links were already in HN, and the quality of comments was similar. No loss there.

Any alternative you could suggest? I migrated to HN from SlashDot many years ago, because the discussion was mature, and shitposting/jokes were frowned upon.

To this day I haven’t found something similar.