Torvalds was unnecessarily unrespectful. He fixed this. Now, he is still to the point and harsh when needed, but in a respectful way. That works and it's still

Torvalds was unnecessarily unrespectful. He fixed this. Now, he is still to the point and harsh when needed, but in a respectful way. That works and it's still as effective, if not better (because, it turns out, you are more eager to take something in account if it's not insulting you). > So OSS developers must be able to accept very harsh critism or even insults but always be kind to users who offer nothing in return? For one's own sake, yes, it's better to be able to take the messages one receives. And no, this doesn't grant you the permission to be sloppy and not careful when communicating with other human beings. Now of course if someone insulted you, you'd be forgiven to not be overly nice with this person. Though avoiding to lower yourself to this person's level is the better option if you can help it. I personally find that someone who insulted someone else who responded with class looks particularly bad.