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Wow - on a rare visit to Slashdot, stumbled across this incredibly insightful comment by Charliemopps[1]: Ironically his argument about fake politeness is EXAC

by miles 13y ago

Wow - on a rare visit to Slashdot, stumbled across this incredibly insightful comment by Charliemopps[1]: Ironically his argument about fake politeness is EXACTLY what he's getting. People are pretending that his horrible behavior is acceptable just because they don't want to get on his bad side. Acting professionally is not about politeness, it's about not muddying up the conversation with information that's not useful. [1] http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3977141&cid=44291653 http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3977141&cid=442916... EDIT: Had to add one more gem from the Slashdot discussion, this one by Culture20[2]: It's not "fake politeness" to stop using abusive language, it's normal politeness. [2] http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3977141&cid=44290909 http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3977141&cid=442909...

_pmf_ 13y ago
> People are pretending that his horrible behavior is acceptable just because they don't want to get on his bad side. I think this is wrong. This argument does not make sense for people who are not in any way directly involved with kernel contributions, but have nevertheless formed an opinion about Linus. I, personally, find his antics to be quite entertaining and refreshing. Reacting strongly to small technical detail is something that should be encouraged, not banished.
markdown 13y ago
> People are pretending that his horrible behavior is acceptable just because they don't want to get on his bad side. Or maybe they're just willing to accept the occasional insult from a guy they respect, admire, and who has done so much good for them. Kinda like how people forgive Bill Clinton for lying to them about his private shenanigans because he was a damn good president overall.
- Ygg2 13y ago
  Or maybe, just maybe you can be a smart, contributing person without being a raging douche bag.
  - neya 13y ago
    Wait, you accuse him for impoliteness but excuse yourself for calling him a 'douchebag'?
    - Ygg2 13y ago
      No, I call him a douchebag or to be more precise a low grade raging douchebag. High grade douchebags use their words to push correct buttons. I'm not sure what does his brand (i.e. attacking one of his contributors) does other than make people more defensive and close minded. He could have said "This commit is utter shit, because A, and B test it and do it again" and I'd be fine. What he said was "This commit and you are utter shit. Don't do it again." I don't excuse myself for calling him that. I'm neither smart nor polite.
  - lawnchair_larry 13y ago
    Can you though? What makes you think that you can cherry pick the intricacies of one's character and leave what remains intact? The passion that you see is likely intertwined so deeply in what makes him tick that it's the reason we even have Linux in the first place. People are flawed, you can't expect to have the good without the bad. That's not an excuse to be a jerk, but one needs to step back and be objective about the package that the recipient of their personality critique is offering society. He's rather forthcoming about his value proposition as a person, and it can't be argued that it isn't a good one. It's extremely selfish to intentionally create controversy and put your own personal feelings ahead of what he and his team are doing. On top of that, trying to turn it into a women's rights issue and getting the Ada Initiative involved is just shameful.

by miles 13y ago

_pmf_ 13y ago

> People are pretending that his horrible behavior is acceptable just because they don't want to get on his bad side. I think this is wrong. This argument does not make sense for people who are not in any way directly involved with kernel contributions, but have nevertheless formed an opinion about Linus. I, personally, find his antics to be quite entertaining and refreshing. Reacting strongly to small technical detail is something that should be encouraged, not banished.

markdown 13y ago

> People are pretending that his horrible behavior is acceptable just because they don't want to get on his bad side. Or maybe they're just willing to accept the occasional insult from a guy they respect, admire, and who has done so much good for them. Kinda like how people forgive Bill Clinton for lying to them about his private shenanigans because he was a damn good president overall.

Ygg2 13y ago
Or maybe, just maybe you can be a smart, contributing person without being a raging douche bag.
- neya 13y ago
  Wait, you accuse him for impoliteness but excuse yourself for calling him a 'douchebag'?
  - Ygg2 13y ago
    No, I call him a douchebag or to be more precise a low grade raging douchebag. High grade douchebags use their words to push correct buttons. I'm not sure what does his brand (i.e. attacking one of his contributors) does other than make people more defensive and close minded. He could have said "This commit is utter shit, because A, and B test it and do it again" and I'd be fine. What he said was "This commit and you are utter shit. Don't do it again." I don't excuse myself for calling him that. I'm neither smart nor polite.
- lawnchair_larry 13y ago
  Can you though? What makes you think that you can cherry pick the intricacies of one's character and leave what remains intact? The passion that you see is likely intertwined so deeply in what makes him tick that it's the reason we even have Linux in the first place. People are flawed, you can't expect to have the good without the bad. That's not an excuse to be a jerk, but one needs to step back and be objective about the package that the recipient of their personality critique is offering society. He's rather forthcoming about his value proposition as a person, and it can't be argued that it isn't a good one. It's extremely selfish to intentionally create controversy and put your own personal feelings ahead of what he and his team are doing. On top of that, trying to turn it into a women's rights issue and getting the Ada Initiative involved is just shameful.