Disabling first party JS works too, using umatrix or similar tools. The site works perfectly without JS.
Edit: because of all of that, of course view source bypasses the paywall too and reveals tons of inlined CSS.
Thank you!! I had no idea, and this is such an elegant fix.
However there are many more properly implemented paywalls that send only a few lines of content and you don't find the content even on the archive sites.
There are several variations of those schemes. Sometimes there is text but not images. Sometimes the first party js is fine and you have to block some of the third party js.
Sometimes the content is in a JSON blob.
Sometimes the reader mode trick works but only for a short while before the js paywall removes it (the sibling comment hints about it.)
You have to experiment with each site.
I agree with you though, it's obnoxious to share paywalled articles on Hacker News.
We can do without mean words like “obnoxious” for people contributing interesting articles for the community to read.
HN sometimes likes to discuss texts that weren't published as a free contribution on some blog by a dev with lots of time on their hand.
It's not forbidden to post paywalled links on HN, AFAIK.
I also struggle to see an alternative when it comes to professional journalism.
Maybe a kind soul will be able to share a gift link.
> It's not forbidden to post paywalled links on HN, AFAIK.
The FAQ states that it's fine to post paywalled links as long as there is a workaround that everyone can easily access.