"Writing software doesn't require GitHub". Well, if they do not need whatever is specific to github and claim that someone who sorely lacks these features has a mental problem...
To be fair, the author of the post said the same thing. From the other thread on HN, they themselves said: "Nobody should cry over a SaaS, of all things. But GitHub has meant so much more to me than that (all laid out in the post). I have an unhealthy relationship with it. "