Ever since I started using Git, I would never go back to SVN, because branching and merging is now an essential part of my workflow, even on small project on which I work by myself with no other contributers.

     just as with Linux there is/are some de-facto
     master branch(es)

Well yeah, but I don't get how that's an argument for SVN. The thing I like about Git is that branching is now really, really cheap. You can now keep track of dozens of local branches with experiments that you don't have to push to master. You can now share your experiments with a colleague and push to master whenever something is actually ready. You can now also ban commits to the main repository that haven't been code-reviewed (something which is a PITA with SVN). And so on and so forth.

    I don't get the religious opposition against one 
    version control system vs another.

Even though I prefer Git, neither do I, especially since you can just use the Git-SVN bridge :) I've used it for more than a year, it does has some quirks, but it works fine.

Also, the Apache Foundation does its job and does it well. There's room for both anarchy and bureaucracy and both are needed.