Maciej seems pretty annoyed by what happened, and I don't blame him. But there you go. Shit happens!
He's basically one of the friendliest people I've met on the Internet, though, so if you want to help him out you can just ping him on Twitter.
He's got a history of similar behavior. He really is a bit of a troll. He certainly doesn't follow HN guideline of "Don't say things you wouldn't say in a face to face conversation.".
My guess is PG only unbanned him so he wouldn't face the criticism of seeming to censor one of his critics.
He called Sebastian prolix for writing a long post.
He called Sebastian a douchebag for writing that long post.
If we're going to hellban people for writing individual uncivil posts, that's a problem. But I don't think that's what's going to happen.
You should stop calling people "Internet Tough Guys". You have literally no idea who you're talking about. Comments like yours are Part Of The Problem. Maybe you should re-evaluate the notion of starting whole threads on how much you dislike one particular person.
Regardless, I don't have any vendetta against him or care strongly about him being on the site or not. I realize he's a smart guy who just has a bit of an Uncov streak in him. No big deal.
I like reading idlewords and think he's a good/interesting writer and am glad he wasn't permanently banned. But your reply here defending his words seems a little emotional and knee-jerk don't you think?
I thought his comment about Sebastian's post was impolitic, but I chose that word carefully.
I don't care to psychoanalyze 'pg or how he chooses to run the site. He's a busy guy and is more than entitled to make moderation decisions that I disagree with.
I don't understand why you felt the need to write your comment at all. What good did it serve?