I don't think there's a causal relation between brilliance and jerk level, but: It's a sliding scale. Does the contribution of the jerk outweigh the loss of co

I don't think there's a causal relation between brilliance and jerk level, but: It's a sliding scale. Does the contribution of the jerk outweigh the loss of contribution from people offput by his attitude? Linus is a jerk, and while Linux might have been even more successful if he wasn't, that isn't who he is. Should we ignore the success of Linux just because the original creator can be an asshole at times? I'd much rather work with a brilliant nice guy than a brilliant jerk, but sometimes you don't get that choice. Sometimes your choice is a brilliant jerk who has the vision, drive, and ability to succeed at whatever your goal is, and a nice guy who doesn't.