Ask HN: Should HN be spun off to an independent non-profit?

Hacker News is a great community, and I think it managed to stay this way because there are no incentives for it to show ads or grow. And, of course, because of the great moderators that work their magic, mostly behind the scenes.

Clearly, this could not have happened without YC's financing behind it.

However, I've started to ask myself if YC's involvement is still the best thing for the community. Today, there's a strong bias toward YC startups (e.g., when they are hiring or launching) which is still within acceptable limits and doesn't disrupt the community.

But this strong dependence on YC is not good, and could lead to more influence or bias down the road. YC is HN's benevolent dictator.

Would one possibility be to spin HN off into it's own non-profit entity and with it the moderation and tech (?) teams? I'm sure many regular HN users would gladly donate a monhtly or yearly amount to keep HN independent and going. I know I would.

Of course, this is something YC would need to decide. I'm aware that they probably get a good amount of their application through the "Apply to YC" link at the bottom, but this still might be the right thing to do.

Do you think the dependence is a problem? If yes, what other things could be done to decrease it?