While I think that Dave's complaint in this case is hypocritical and entirely without merit, I agree that there is a problem in general. I'm not sure it is rea

While I think that Dave's complaint in this case is hypocritical and entirely without merit, I agree that there is a problem in general. I'm not sure it is really about "programmer-types" though so much as it is a few bad leaders combined with hero worship. Linus is an asshole, plain and simple. And people worship him, so they will justify, excuse, and emulate his behaviour. There's plenty of examples of programming communities that are the exact opposite, haskell being an oft cited example. The haskell community is very patient, calm, and avoids fighting/drama. Is it because haskell has some magic power that soothes the savage "programmer-type"? Or is it because the community standards are set by emulating the behaviour of the leaders? Compare how SPJ behaves to how Linus behaves. I think the only negative things I've ever heard from SPJ have been mild criticisms of his own work. Even in his role as an advocate for not just a language, but for entire fields (functional programming, static typing) he is consistently calm, respectful and pleasant.