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> We really need to stop excusing Linus's behaviour. Just because we may happen to agree with what he is saying doesn't mean we also have to agree with how he i

> We really need to stop excusing Linus's behaviour. Just because we may happen to agree with what he is saying doesn't mean we also have to agree with how he is saying it. I couldn't agree more. More than ten years ago I was involved in the Monotone project. It was a VCS which was an ancestor to Git and a contemporary of Mercurial. That project really prioritised good conduct, and having a well functioning community. It was a huge awakening for me. Insisting, gently, upon respectful and kind behaviour made it a project I'm proud to have been a part of. I'm still grateful to graydon, pcwalton and all the other folks that made it such a great project to be involved with. In free software we need more leaders like that, who set the right example.

busterarm 9y ago
How would you rate the downstream impact of delivery failures in this project? Respect and kindness are great virtues when you're shipping widgets. If your product failing means that end-users are going to physically suffer and/or die, I don't think they're going to care one bit about those virtues or respond in kind though. I'm not saying you can't run a big project without kindness and respect, but I'm saying that's way down the list of importance vs not harming your users. Whatever it takes to get that chief goal accomplished needs to be done. Linus' approach has clearly been working for decades now...and it especially is in this instance.