It's also entirely irrelevant if people use different tools to do their job. No one was hindered by anyone else's personal choice of tools. Anyone in the world was free to download the source code, change it, and contribute patches if they seed fit. Bitkeeper did not hindered this, nor did the linux development process changed once bitkeeper was replaced.
BitKeeper was better than the alternatives. This was literally Linus' rationale for using it.
Nothing what you say in the second paragraph contradicts what I said, but it also doesn't address the point at all. Do you understand why a difference in tooling and ease of working reduces openness?
It's also entirely irrelevant if people use different tools to do their job. No one was hindered by anyone else's personal choice of tools. Anyone in the world was free to download the source code, change it, and contribute patches if they seed fit. Bitkeeper did not hindered this, nor did the linux development process changed once bitkeeper was replaced.