If I could upvote you multiple times I would. I see a lot of confusion on this matter, even on HN.
When authenticating, the server needs to do a hashing step to compare against the password database. Otherwise, it isn't a hashed password database - it's a plaintext password database.
When authenticating, the server needs to do a hashing step to compare against the password database. Otherwise, it isn't a hashed password database - it's a plaintext password database.