At first he was rude but now he's mean. The difference being if you cause offence but don't know it will hurt someone you're just rude. If you know it will hur

At first he was rude but now he's mean. The difference being if you cause offence but don't know it will hurt someone you're just rude. If you know it will hurt them and you do it anyways you're mean. At this point Linus knows how his behavior affects people so to do it intentionally is either ignorant/stupid or mean.