Yep. Essentially what Linus is saying is that he has got to have more time, more competence, more vigilance that he wants because the other side can't or won't. And it's a recurring problem.
Sometimes we want more control and can't get it. Frustrating. Sometimes senior people are sick and tired of control and want less. Frustrating!
taking things personally doesn't stop the narcissists, it only enables them and others to hurt you. so how can not taking something personally enable narcissists?
for your own mental sanity, you should try to not take anything personally. put it down to that person being an asshole, or someone who lacks the mental capacity to be nice, or whatever putdown you can think of.
not taking something personally does not mean you condone that behavior. you can reject a behavior even if it is not aimed at you.
if you take things personally it only hurts your own ego, and if that happens to much, it may lead to self-doubt, or even depression. it's not worth it.
Because having your thing supported by mainline Linux makes interoperability a breeze and saves a lot of maintainership effort. There's a lot of money behind it. Dealing with the quality gate keeper is a cost of doing business.