- Distributing patches via email is more scalable than web hosting. Even GitHub could not host the level of activity happening on the LKML mailing list
- Web hosting has a variety of access and legal problems when working with international teams; email crosses borders more easily
- Email is a decentralized and distributed system that prevents any single company from controlling a project's development infrastructure (release infrastructure is another story, but multiple companies will generally manage their own release process anyway)
- Distributing patches via email is more scalable than web hosting. Even GitHub could not host the level of activity happening on the LKML mailing list
- Web hosting has a variety of access and legal problems when working with international teams; email crosses borders more easily
- Email is a decentralized and distributed system that prevents any single company from controlling a project's development infrastructure (release infrastructure is another story, but multiple companies will generally manage their own release process anyway)