Whenever possible I try to link to a download page instead of directly to a PDF or image file. However, in some cases I do hotlink directly to a file download. One advantage of this is that if the author updates the file (to fix an error) the user downloads the newest version.
What do other HN'ers think? Should I host the PDF files directly? What is the proper netiquette in this case?
Maybe you could do it Google-style, where you feature the hotlink but also offer a cached version of it. Or, alternatively, you can hotlink to Google's cache of it (since they almost certainly have one!).
What do other HN'ers think? Should I host the PDF files directly? What is the proper netiquette in this case?