I for one, would not participate in a project with a pushover leader, or a comitee style leadership with passive-agressive politeness.
To put it another way: There's absolutely NO chance that I would work for a boss with Linus' poor manners and rudeness for money. No way in hell would I do it for free. I don't think I'm the only one who feels it would go against myself-respect to work together with a boor of Linus' caliber.
The dissemination of information is a completely different thing from the respect and honor you show the person you're talking to, which is again completely different from your selection of strategy.
For instance, it is possible to be steadfast without lowering yourself and the communication to the level that Linus will do.
(And in stating 'FWIW', I know what it's worth. No need to be rude, is there? In fact, there's no need to be anything but polite. In my opinion. For what that's worth.)
Now you're starting to sound like Linus :)