I hope one day we can get to the point where we discuss the content of a post on HN, and not cast subjective opinion about its presentation.
I don't think there is anything wrong with the headline font. I'm not too fond of the link highlighting used on the front page, but it's fine. Really. And you can be a "front end person" and have very, very little to do with design these days. Entire webapps are made on the front-end.
Presentation is always important. It doesn't matter if it's a scientific paper or blog, presenting in a clear and intelligible way is critical to communication in all forms.
As for the content:
I've dealt with numerous developers who only want to do one thing, only backend, only front-end, only design. I've constantly run into shenanigans when working with such people in a fast paced dynamic environment. "I can't work on the frontend till the backend api is finished", "I can't work on the backend till the frontend data requirements are defined", "I can't work on the frontend till the UI/UX are defined". It's a never ending requirements dependency argument.
More capable full stack people are able to mock or fake the bits that are as of yet undefined allowing them to continue working on their core piece while gaining a better understand of the system as a whole. This allows them to contribute to the product definition at all levels instead of just living in their own little piece of it, waiting for definition from outside.
I don't think there is anything wrong with the headline font. I'm not too fond of the link highlighting used on the front page, but it's fine. Really. And you can be a "front end person" and have very, very little to do with design these days. Entire webapps are made on the front-end.