Although what I'm about to say doesn't justify his behaviour, but have you ever considered the following: a) He's aware of his tone, but probably bald tired of

Although what I'm about to say doesn't justify his behaviour, but have you ever considered the following: a) He's aware of his tone, but probably bald tired of reading stuff that can be (and in this case is) perceived as an attack (the blog post's title comes to mind) on his work and a bad benchmark/study/conclusion is used to justify it? (Now imagine enduring this throughout decades... Yeah, one has to have very thick skin to be in such a position--have you ever tried to be in his shoes for a moment?) b) He has called himself names as well (In the past I've seriously been tempted to compile a list of such self-deprecation behaviour but it's ultimately pointless); and c) We don't know what's going on in his life or maybe it's just how he is or maybe it's a cultural thing. My point is: sure Linus can do better on how to react to criticism, but inexperienced people ought to refrain themselves from blaming other people's work--especially from vastly experienced ones.