I agree, but with a reservation that personalities are different. Someone less sociable (like me) may even confuse extensively sugar-coated criticism for an app

I agree, but with a reservation that personalities are different. Someone less sociable (like me) may even confuse extensively sugar-coated criticism for an approval. Those more sophisticated and well-versed in politics would see right through it—and direct criticism may sound insulting to them. (I believe the latter kind isn't very common among programmer folk, but still.) IMO it's important that a person can position themselves in a company so that they mostly communicate with colleagues who share communication style. Anyway, Linus is known for his personality even outside Linux kernel development team, so I wonder whether this issue is blown out of proportion.