Exactly right; this notion that people here have of kernel devs spewing vitriol with reckless abandon at anybody not in their club is pure fantasy. Why does it

Exactly right; this notion that people here have of kernel devs spewing vitriol with reckless abandon at anybody not in their club is pure fantasy. Why does it persist? Because normal conversations from kernel dev mailing lists are boring while the occasional directed vitriol is very amusing and spawns lots of heated discussions on Slashdot and HN. That, and because calling people out for "things", whether those "things" are cursing, or any other number of things on other days, makes people feel good and superior. See? I'm doing it right now. ;)