Ask HN: Would you hire someone with no LinkedIn account?

Of course. Why should I demand that job applicants use a particular commercial service for their personal professional networking? Since when has using LinkedIn ensured that someone is competent at what they do and can work with other people?

If someone didn't want to hire me because I didn't have a LinkedIn account (I've never had one, due to privacy concerns), I wouldn't want to work for them anyway.

Depends upon what you're hiring for.

If you're hiring someone to find potential clients on LinkedIn and market/spam (read "do business development"), then someone already understanding the nuances of LinkedIn will help.

For everything else, it doesn't give you any hints on how they'll do on the job. I know several talented developers who have not cared to create/build a LinkedIn profile.

Focus on whether they have the skills to do the job and grow/learn fast.

For sure.

LinkedIn is my least valued social media outlets. It's not necessary to land a good job, though it may help recruiters find you.