I suspect everyone reading HN is using a relatively modern browser, and like me opens links as new tabs instead of having them replace the HN tab. So why not make this the default behavior and include a target _blank to the links?<p>Do you open HK links as new windows/tabs or have them replace the HN page?
Suspecting that everyone else is like you is not a very robust assumption.<p>The current system is aimed at everybody: those who wish to have the links open in the current window left-click, and those that wish to have the links open in a new tab middle-click.<p>For what it's worth: I use a modern browser, but not when I am on a mobile device.
This is usually configurable in your browser. For example, in Firefox <a href="http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.link.open_newwindow" rel="nofollow">http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.link.open_newwindow</a>