If Linus is too abusive, perhaps this developer should consider joining the OpenBSD project. I hear Theo is a really nice guy to work with.
Given the mailing list posts I've seen, at least with Theo you know the range of attitudes you're likely going to get. Heck, I got a pretty vitriolic email a while back for asking if OpenBSD wanted a donation of some unsupported RAID cards from a vendor that wasn't very supportive of OSS projects.
Linus's range of responses is much wider and more unpredictable, and he has a much larger audience.
People defend abrasive guy because they claim his abrupt communication style maintains quality code. But even more abrasive guy claims abrasive guy's project is garbage. Therefore, can we assume abrasive guy is full of crap because even more abrasive guy says he is?
I'm just trying to understand the logic behind defending such behavior.