It's not as rare as you might think, but yes, I'm sure Garry's (well deserved) reputation was a big part of it.
I noticed one dubious upvote making it past HN's anti-voting-ring software, but that's not enough to push a story onto the front page, let alone to #1. It's also extremely common. I didn't notice evidence of any "network for upvotes".
Comments
It's not as rare as you might think, but yes, I'm sure Garry's (well deserved) reputation was a big part of it.
I noticed one dubious upvote making it past HN's anti-voting-ring software, but that's not enough to push a story onto the front page, let alone to #1. It's also extremely common. I didn't notice evidence of any "network for upvotes".