I was personally surprised to see my face as a "contributor" to ClassicPress, with a link to the Github contributors page that indeed shows my 1,900+ commits... to WordPress.
I think it's confusing to screenshot the faces of all the WP developers, put it on your project homepage, and say "This project exists thanks to all the people who contribute." WordPress itself started as a fork so I fully support the importance of forking, but there's a way to acknowledge WP contributors without making it look like we're endorsing your project. Thank you!
Ironic you mention the astroturfing, as the person you replied to is the creator of ClassicPress ;)
The creator likes to namedrop ClassicPress everywhere on the WP.org forums and WPTavern. He's had his posts removed from the wp.org forums due to spam too.
https://camo.githubusercontent.com/5c2b13dae2a33eafd5eab9039...
https://github.com/ClassicPress/ClassicPress/graphs/contribu...
I think it's confusing to screenshot the faces of all the WP developers, put it on your project homepage, and say "This project exists thanks to all the people who contribute." WordPress itself started as a fork so I fully support the importance of forking, but there's a way to acknowledge WP contributors without making it look like we're endorsing your project. Thank you!