For PDFs at least, scribd seems purely parasitic.

I believe the intention of having the scribd links is to mirror the content if the original source goes down under the HN reader load, which has happened at times.

Or, the intention of having Scribd links is to boost SEO for and awareness of Scribd, thus increasing the value of Y Combinator's equity stake.

This is news.ycombinator.com. I don't begrudge that.

It wouldn't bug me if it didn't decrease the utility of the PDF links.

EDIT: as pointed out below, it doesn't. Belay this comment.

It doesn't. If you don't want to see Scribd then don't click on the "[Scribd]" - the rest of the title takes you straight to the PDF itself.

Well, blow me over. How did I miss that?

Thanks.

IME, HN readers will almost always post either a Google cache link or cache the original content. The scribd thing just slows everybody down.