I always read Linus as a Finn speaking English as Finnish is spoken in the company of good friends, profanity will be used, often quite liberally, and if anythi

I always read Linus as a Finn speaking English as Finnish is spoken in the company of good friends, profanity will be used, often quite liberally, and if anything, the Swedish speaking minority he harkens from swear even more. Only outdone by the good people of Åland, to which swearing seems to be a form of art, or how they breathe. I believe it's well known that people tend to curse more in a second language, applying that theory to some Finns is going to lead to a very colorful and explicit language. Personally I barely swear, I find it somewhat pointless. However I have never really been bothered in the least of what he writes. I'm wondering if it is because English is a second language to me? Maybe because I have at least a cursory knowledge of Finn culture, or even because it felt so blindingly obvious to me that regardless of the superficial content of the profanities, they were rarely ( if ever ) a statement of value regarding people, only their contribution. I really don't know, but it is interesting because I think I would have reacted quite strongly to most people saying what you quoted above! Language and communication, it's perplexingly complicated.