(rightfully) does not like mixed language codebases for projects as large and important as Linux

You make it sound like it’s a matter of taste rather than a technical one (and I suspect it actually might be just about taste in the end)

I stopped at “secret” (yes, the occurrence in the title) :)

TBH the checksums are pretty useless for humans who download an .iso and install it… they are mainly for mirrors and similar that download files without using them

Yank is Copy, you heathen!
Only in inferior software it is Paste.

(for the uninitiated: it’s Copy in vim and Paste in emacs; also if it wasn’t clear, I’m just joking)