I realize that your comment was likely made in jest, but it still bugs me.
Given all that he has accomplished and the influence his work has had on multiple generations of computer and gaming nerds, I don't see the celebrity status as terribly unwarranted.
That may be the current reality of the situation, but it doesn't mean we have to keep it that way.
I'm not saying he doesn't deserve his status, I'm just saying let's not get too fanatical about it.
We're just acknowledging that he is an exceptional contributor to our industry, and that his work has inspired a TON of people.
To have someone of that stature contribute to your project is exciting! There's nothing strange or creepy about that, and if people want to celebrate that in their own way like printing a Git commit or something, whatever!
Imagine being an indie film director and having Kathryn Bigelow show up on set one day to give you some notes and feedback on your film. You might frame that piece of paper.
Imagine being a local chef in a restaurant and having Julia Sedefdjian stop by for a meal and compliment your food. You might get a photo to keep on the wall in your kitchen..
Nothing wrong with any of that, I think you are characterizing things to an unwarranted extreme here.
a) Bypassing their own code review processes.
b) Creating a contributors list, just so they can put Carmack at the top of it (what about all the other contributors?!)
IMHO this crosses a line. Not in a big way, but one worthy of comment.
Carmack, while not Cardi B or whoever, is famous enough that I'd bet he has at least a few extreme worshipers and extreme haters.
That said, if Carmack contributed to one of my projects, yeah, I'd be sure to let people know that. :-)
I don't think the comment was fanatical at all, it was a lighthearted joke.
While I agree it was likely lighthearted, that does not exempt it from criticism.
Purely in terms of a programmer. Things he's created.
Everyone should be able to have heroes. You don't need to necessarily elevate them to the level of Gods, but John is very readily a video game real life hero.
(if it did happen for real the most I would do is print out the commit hash with his name next to it :D, because he is one of the people I look up to in CS, others being Knuth and Tarjan among others, I would do the same for them, but then again I don't think they are active open source contributors)
Nonetheless, Carmack is still one of the most impactful programmer of the modern era.