> [...] nor have I ever heard systematic criticism of Github's methodology.

He's not only criticizing Github:

    > (a) make a real pull request, not the braindamaged crap that github
    >     does when you ask it to request a pull: real explanation, proper email
    >     addresses, proper shortlog, and proper diffstat.
    >
    > (b) since github identities are random, I expect the pull request to
    >     be a signed tag, so that I can verify the identity of the person in
    >     question.

Real explanation, proper shortlog, signed commit, etc. (Note that he didn't mention emojis.)

All he seems to be asking for is that we take our time and do it properly. Makes all the sense in the world for a large, long-lived open source project like Linux. Imagine 20-year-old commit messages from FreeBSD would look like the ones we write today for, say, a npm module.

--- edit ---

Yeah ... nevermind. He explains it himself further down:

    > Btw, Joseph, you're a quality example of why I detest the github
    > interface. For some reason, github has attracted people who have zero
    > taste, don't care about commit logs, and can't be bothered.
    >
    > The fact that I have higher standards then makes people like you make
    > snarky comments, thinking that you are cool.
    >
    > You're a moron.
    >
    >                 Linus