Well it is the main reference but it won't sustain the "HN effect", thanks for the mirror link. I typically use http://wiki.bash-hackers.org/doku.php which also provides a mirror and some extras.
How would one know this in advance?
How would one know in advance that submitting to HN would result in traffic consisting of more than a handful of users?
How would one know in advance whether a site can handle high traffic?