[Zikes]

It's not a strawman, the statement at the end of his email strongly implies that he considers people using Github to be incapable of using git without it.

Besides that, nobody would be required to create an account on Github to contribute. The primary repository could be hosted right where it is, with Github available as another avenue of contribution and communication.

[adityab]

> strongly implies that he considers people using Github to be incapable of using git without it.

This is true for most people on Github, unfortunately. There's even an oft-repeated name for this phenomenon: "github monoculture".