The list is ranked in a completely transparent way. It's anything with the help wanted tag, ordered by number of stars.
So this isn't some sneaky Microsoft thumb on the scale, the way you appear to be implying. Simpler than that: I doubt many projects know about this list (I for one just saw it for the first time), and since GitHub put it together, Microsoft codebases got the memo to add the tag.
If you want to see other popular projects at the top of this list, open up a PR to have them add the tag.
Personally I find it funny one of the most valuable companies in the world is begging for free help maintaining their software. Gotta be cheap to get rich I guess.
Some open source projects don't necessarily want help. I don't think adding a help-wanted tag qualifies for begging as much as letting you know that contributors are actually welcome if you're interested.
What a shame, one of the biggest companies of our time with tags looking for help. Sell it however you want, but the tag is there and this is a pitiful image.
I feel sorry for all the naive developers who will waste their time working for free for a parasitic corporation.
So this isn't some sneaky Microsoft thumb on the scale, the way you appear to be implying. Simpler than that: I doubt many projects know about this list (I for one just saw it for the first time), and since GitHub put it together, Microsoft codebases got the memo to add the tag.
If you want to see other popular projects at the top of this list, open up a PR to have them add the tag.