It would've been just-another-chart-library without the "my company made me take it down" angle.

Released -> Taken Down/Died -> Re-released.

Not to mention a few HN posts and hacker outrage / discussion stirring things up.

That said, it's probably the internet attention to the takedown that has made it come back up so quickly.

It's New Coke for open source projects!

It's like jesus resurrection, he got all the fame for that.

I think it was tongue-in-cheek saying that the publicity from taking it down right after release is giving it better visibility than they could've otherwise.