jhou2:
the amount of positive press that MS has been garnering recently on HN is impressiveengendered: Don't think it is purely happenstance. There is absolutely and unequivocally either brigading Microsoft fans, or paid shills, hitting HN hard.
My interpretation might be wrong, but I take jhou2's "positive press" to mean stories such as this one appearing on the front page. I interpret 'engendered' as saying that these stories would not appear on the front page if it were not for "brigading Microsoft fans" or "paid shills". Since the story is on the front page because of user upvote, and although there could be dispute about all vs most vs some, I read this to be accusing those who voted up the story as being one of these things.
In my read, he attributes the downvotes on his comments to the same faction, uses this as evidence that the faction exists, and thus can also be held responsible for elevating this and other Microsoft-positive stories to the front page. I think he's wrong, don't think the "brigading Microsoft fan" has much of an influence on HN, and doubt that Microsoft is paying anyone for getting things on the front page.
I'd happily consider evidence to the contrary, but I think the downvotes to engendered's comments are due to other factors, and that the pro-Microsoft stories are appearing more frequently on HN because they periodically act as a positive force. I don't know how prevalent my attitude is, but I find these stories interesting in a "Dog Bites Man" fashion. I am more likely to vote up a good deed done by Microsoft because I find it to be more noteworthy than a good deed done by others.