Of course we don't think that. Some people found it interesting, and it's good for HN to have a wide range of stories.
Most times when someone has a fixed idea of what this site is supposed to be about, they get it wrong. HN is supposed to be about literally anything, as long as it's intellectually interesting. We don't mean that in a highbrow sense—topics not traditionally thought of as intellectual are welcome. This story is perhaps borderline by HN's criteria, but at worst it's not far off, and the thread is substantive, so we decided not to call it off-topic.
Story diversity is super important here. No one would call Rust off-topic, yet we don't want a front page of all Rust stories. At least most of us don't!
Most times when someone has a fixed idea of what this site is supposed to be about, they get it wrong. HN is supposed to be about literally anything, as long as it's intellectually interesting. We don't mean that in a highbrow sense—topics not traditionally thought of as intellectual are welcome. This story is perhaps borderline by HN's criteria, but at worst it's not far off, and the thread is substantive, so we decided not to call it off-topic.
Story diversity is super important here. No one would call Rust off-topic, yet we don't want a front page of all Rust stories. At least most of us don't!