> people are going to use, extend, or modify it. They don't have an obligation to ask permission or even inform you. That is kind of the point.

That's all well and good, but the objection doesn't relate to someone exercising their software freedoms, it relates to the effects on the repository. If this happened in a fork then nobody could say anything, but if it happens upstream then it messes with the maintenance and development responsibilities of previously borne by Mackenzie.