Many non-relevant stories show up in the front page of HN during the weekend because many people disconnect from the website to stay with their families or whatever. Many of these missing upvotes/downvotes are also the ones that make up the self-moderation that the website is known for. Don't think too much about it, the GitHub + Microsoft thing is just in the air nowadays, anything that teases the acquisition will sparkle a reaction from the community, today that reaction translates into upvotes of this type of links.

In one word: populism.