Yeah I don't think that's going to happen...mainly because that would greatly reduce the value to the ad-purchaser...they're interested in hiring someone, not igniting one of the various archetypical debates about startup culture.
And also, it would greatly increase the burden on HN moderators, and in such a way that it would be a lose-lose situation when it comes to credibility. If you allow comments, you allow the possibility of not just well-intentioned debate, but trolling (thanks to HN's generous account-creation policy)...which means, heavy-handed moderation at certain points. Which would you prefer: across-the-board, default policy of not allowing direct comments...or HN mods constantly having to justify the removal/downmodding of trollish comments against endless conflict-of-interest accusations?
I think that horse has pretty much sailed from the barn ever since Paul Graham, founder of YC, announced he was going to create Hacker News, and put it as a subdomain of "ycombinator.com"
And also, it would greatly increase the burden on HN moderators, and in such a way that it would be a lose-lose situation when it comes to credibility. If you allow comments, you allow the possibility of not just well-intentioned debate, but trolling (thanks to HN's generous account-creation policy)...which means, heavy-handed moderation at certain points. Which would you prefer: across-the-board, default policy of not allowing direct comments...or HN mods constantly having to justify the removal/downmodding of trollish comments against endless conflict-of-interest accusations?