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Comment by yuvadam | Hacker News Reader

You gotta _love_ Linus' writings.

indeed. this one is my fav. http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/57643...

I actually find it to be really bad, and I'm not the only one -http://www.informit.com/guides/content.aspx?g=cplusplus&...

While I agree with his focus on users, he has passed up a valuable coaching opportunity and probably antagonized a whole bunch of developers. He turned a potential coaching opportunity into a pissing match. Ridiculing volunteers on a open source project is inappropriate, irrespective of whether the opinion of that person was right or wrong.

If you look at the history, the comments at the beginning were much less abrasive. It's only after the discussion continued for a long time that he started being more aggressive in his comments.

But I think it's wise, in all debates, to maintain that civility. At the end of the day, which comments are getting the attention?

I think he's right, I think it's important to defend what he thinks is right, and I understand how it can be frustrating, but we all just have to have the fortitude keep the flames in check.

At the end of the day, which comments are getting the attention?

The ones with content. In the sample quotes in the article, Linux is attacking ideas and attitudes, not people.

he has passed up a valuable coaching opportunity

???

In the comment I read, he goes into detail about why it's wrong.

His next comment that starts "Bullshit." goes into 500 words of coaching.

He is backing up his arguments with developer-level people here, not newbie coders who are still figuring out how an array works.

I do wonder on what basis I must _love_ his writings.

I'm not a Linux guy, so I am out of the loop. What makes these writings so lovable?

The nature of the Father of Linux being, in essence, an enraged (often insightful) crusader is just a point of pride for a lot of people who know about him and like Linux.

He's straightforward.

And smart. This is an important ingredient.

As the originator of the OS and still working at a low level, it's nice to see him (A) care about the user experience all these year later and (B) cut through other people's bullshit the way a lot of us wish we could.

I would also include that he's furiously pragmatic. Which stands in contrast to other Free software personalities, who are often furiously idealistic.

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