If Wikipedia history of git is correct (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_%28software%29#History), Linus turned over the project after less than 4 months. That git had any UI at that point is a miracle in itself. That it was used to release 2.6.12, two and a half months after the beginning of development, is nothing short of genius.
So, yeah, I'm with you. He had better things to do. This does not disqualify him in any way from influencing other software development, by providing commentary.